


Ultimate Hand-Me-Down

by kayleighbug



Series: de temps en temps [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: AU/UA, Aged-Up Character(s), Gen, Identity Reveal, Parallels, beginning crime fighting adventures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-09
Updated: 2016-08-17
Packaged: 2018-07-13 23:00:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 35,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7141640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kayleighbug/pseuds/kayleighbug
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's not every day that your parents ask you to become superheroes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Evil Returns

As they got older, being Ladybug and Chat Noir had become more of a fun escape from the monotony of adult life rather than an actual responsibility for Marinette and Adrien. The had been in possession of their respective Miraculous for the greater part of three decades, and still patrolled once a month even though Hawkmoth had been defeated almost sixteen years ago. If you asked either of them, it was a freeing experience. As long as there was no immediate magic-based danger to the city or in another part of the globe, Tikki and Plagg said they could keep hold of their Miraculous for as long as they wanted.

Patrolling had been canceled only a handful of times over the past 25 years, and while it had been significantly cut back once Hawkmoth was no longer a threat, the two didn't like to cancel unless it was absolutely necessary. The only times patrol had ever been cancelled was during the first few months after the twins had been born, and even then Adrien would sometimes go alone.

But Emma and Hugo were fifteen now, and if they ever noticed the flying sprites that lived with them their entire lives or the fact that their parents sometimes snuck out the window covered in magical spandex, they never mentioned it.

* * *

"Marinette?" Tikki called. The two were downstairs in the small shop Marinette used to design and create her costumes. The designer herself was currently rifling through some scrap ribbon in the corner, trying to find the perfect piece to use on a costume for a local performance of _A Christmas Carol._

"What is it, Tikki?" she responded without lifting her head from the box.

"I sense something, and I'm afraid it is not a good thing." Tikki sighed and muttered too low for Marinette to hear,"I didn't expect him to come back so soon."

At Tikki's concerned tone, Marinette abandoned her search to gaze at the small kwami. "What is it Tikki?"

"I don't want to say anything else just yet. I need to speak to Plagg first before I jump to any conclusions. What time is Adrien getting home again?"

Marinette didn't want to just drop the topic without any more explanation, but responded anyway. "He doesn't have anything after his last lecture ends at five."

"And what about the twins?" Tikki asked.

"Project at the library right after school and then violin lessons until six o'clock. If you want to talk to Plagg before they get home, I can call Adrien and see if he can come straight home after class?"

"If you don't mind," Tikki smiled. Casting one last wary glance at the kwami, Marinette pulled out her phone and dialed Adrien. His number was at the top of her most recent calls.

He picked up almost immediately. "Hey Bugaboo, what's up?"

Marinette rolled her eyes despite the fact he couldn't see her, "Honestly Adrien, you're forty years old, when are you going to let the silly nicknames go?"

She heard Adrien laugh from the other end. "C'mon My Lady, you know you love them."

"Okay, fine. Yes, I do. Anyways, can you come straight home after your four o'clock class? Tikki needs to speak to Plagg, and it sounded pretty important."

"I'll do you one better," Adrien replied and the line suddenly went dead. Marinette pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at it.

"What did he say?" Tikki asked and flew up to be at her eye level.

"I think the stupid cat hung up on me," Marinette grumbled. As she was about to redial the number and give him a piece of her mind, the front bell of the shop dinged.

"I'll be right with you!" she called from the back.

"Yes, hi. I need a costume for a one-man performance of _Cats_ that I'm doing," a familiar voice greeted.

Marinette whipped around and glanced around the doorframe that separated her workroom from the main shop. "Adrien?"

"The one and only," he smiled. He walked into the workroom and greeted her with a brief kiss.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. "I thought you had class until five?"

"Well Plagg said something urgent had come up, and after making sure he didn't just mean he was hungry, I decided to let my teaching assistant cover for me. I was just administering an exam anyways, and I don't really need to be there for that."

Marinette smiled. Although Plagg seemed to only care about camembert, she knew he could be serious when he needed to be and that he truly cared for Adrien.

"Speaking of Plagg, where is he?" Marinette asked, going back to her project she had been working on before Adrien arrived.

He shrugged and jumped up to sit on her work table. "Whatever they needed to talk about must be pretty important. I think he already went off with Tikki."

"What do you think it could be?" Marinette held out her hand and Adrien passed her pins without her even needing to ask. "Plagg has never gotten home and gone upstairs without asking me for cheese bread."

"He wouldn't say," Adrien sighed. "I tried asking him on the way home, but he told me he didn't want to say anything until he talked to Tikki."

"Tikki basically said the same thing. The only information I could out of her was that she sensed something and that it probably wasn't a good thing."

"Have you talked to Fu lately? Is he okay?" Adrien had grown to like the peaceful old man over the years. After he and Marinette had returned the Peacock Miraculous to him, he often came over for tea or even dinner. The twins even referred to him as "Uncle Fu," and would ask him during every chance they got to tell them about some of his past adventures in Tibet. Adrien would have been devastated if anything happened to him.

"He came over yesterday," Marinette replied. She pinned some deep purple fabric to her dress form. "He seemed to be in perfect health to me, and he certainly didn't mention being under the weather, but then again you have to remember that the man is two hundred and eleven years old, _minou._ I don't care what he says, that's not exactly youth."

At her words, Adrien removed his glasses (his sight had faded over the years) and ran his hands through his hair and down his face. While Adrien hadn't modeled in decades, Marinette still thought he was constantly posing like life was a photoshoot. He certainly still had the looks for it, even if he was a bit greyer now.

"All we can do is wait to see what they say, I guess. Maybe it was a false alarm."

"Always a chance," Marinette replied. "Can you hand me those scissors? Oh, and what do you think of this?" She turned the dress form towards him as he passed her the scissors. On it was a jacket and trousers for the Ghost of Christmas Present, while it wasn't complete, Adrien could get a pretty good idea of what direction she was heading in.

"Of course, like everything you make, it looks perfect."

Marinette moved to lean on his shoulder while she examined the work herself. "You don't think the purple isn't Christmas-y enough?"

"Well you don't really want it to _scream_ Christmas, and everyone always uses green for that costume. The purple is nice and refreshing. Exquisite work, My Lady."

"Will you ever stop being a dork?" She laughed. "But, thank you. I needed to hear that."

"Ah, but I'm your dork," he wrapped his arms around her to hug her from the side. "If I ever stop being one, call the ambulance because I'm probably having a stroke."

Their chuckling was broken off by the return of Tikki and Plagg.

"Marinette? Adrien?" Tikki grabbed their attention. They turned to look at where the kwamis had re-entered the room.

"What is it?"

"I'm afraid we've got some bad news, kid," Plagg sighed. "Hawkmoth is back."


	2. Hereditary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hawkmoth is back, and now it's time to make a game plan.  
> WARNING: This chapter contains descriptions of an anxiety attack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm taking full advantage of my free weekend to write.  
> This is where most of the canon divergence takes place.

Adrien felt an intense wave of fear take over him. Just those three simple words, and his heart-rate shot through the roof. Breathing suddenly became a lot more difficult, and it was only through his muscles locking up that he didn't fall right off the table.

It was as if all the blood in his veins had been replaced by ice water.

He tried to rationalize, but it was hard to argue with such a blunt factual statement. _There is no way Hawkmoth can be back_ , he thought. _Gabriel Agreste is in a high-security psychiatric center. He has gone through years in prison and intensive counseling for grief and treatment for antisocial personality disorder. He couldn't just be back._

Adrien couldn't hear or feel anything that was going on him at that moment. He thought Plagg might have been trying to tell him something, but the only sensations he was aware of was the nausea building in his stomach. The more he thought about the situation, the worse the symptoms seemed to get.

After what felt like eons, Marinette's hand on his shoulder helped to tether him back to where he was. He was still shaking, but the world was slowly starting to come back into focus.

"It's alright, _chaton_. I'm still here, you're still here, and we're safe. He can't get us." Her voice was soothing as she moved to rub circles on his back, "Now, tell me something you can hear right now."

Adrien tried to take a deep shaky breath and responded, "I can hear your voice."

"Good," Marinette said, knowing that there was no other sounds in the room, she moved on. "Now, what do you see?"

"T-Tikki and Plagg are over there. Today you are wearing a striped t-shirt and jeans, and your hair is in a bun. Your costume is here on the left, and there's a box of…ribbons? Over there, in the corner."

With each thing he described, his heart rate started to slow and the knot in his stomach slowly started to unclench. The tingling sensation that had been coursing through his veins faded, and he knew that the worst of it was ending.

"Do you need me to keep going?" Marinette asked. When he looked at her, he registered the concerned look she was giving him. Like every look she gave him, it was full of nothing but love, and not pity like he had received from people in the past. Adrien took her hand in his and just shook his head, and she continued her rhythmic soothing on the back of his hand with her thumb.

Adrien rarely had anxiety attacks, but luckily Marinette had remembered some of the tips he had been told to use when they had been more frequent. He had always had a bit of anxiety when it came to things involving his father, but it had really spiraled after discovering he had been Hawkmoth the entire time.

Sometimes in his nightmares he would relive that final confrontation all over again.

"I'm okay," he reassured them. When Marinette glanced at him, he replied, "Really. I-It just caught me off guard."

"I'm sorry, kid." Adrien looked to see Plagg's ears droop, "I probably should have said that gently."

"No, no, no. It's okay, Plagg. _I'm_ sorry."

"You have nothing to apologize for," Marinette smiled. "Now, do you want to stay here for the rest or do you want to go upstairs and we'll talk about this later?"

Adrien shook his head. Although he now felt exhausted, he knew it would be easier to be there for the conversation rather than try to hear it second-hand later. "We can talk about it now." He turned back towards Plagg, "how did he get out of the facility?"

Plagg and Tikki shared a look, and even Plagg knew that now was not the time to be playing around.

"He didn't," Plagg started. "This is a new energy, which means it is a new villain."

Even though the situation was still a dire one, Adrien breathed a sigh of relief.

"But Tikki and I destroyed the Miraculous?" Marinette protested. "I remember that _very_ clearly. How on earth does he have powers?"

Tikki sighed, "Unfortunately, nothing is permanent. The kwami, Nooroo, got away, which means that he could still be captured and corrupted again."

All Marinette could think was, _that poor kwami._

"So, what do we do?" Adrien asked. "Is everything going to go back to how it was twenty years ago; with daily akuma attacks tearing apart Paris?"

Tikki sighed, and her antennae fell slightly. "Unfortunately, I'm afraid that's not too far from the truth. This is a cycle that repeats throughout history—always slightly different—but along the same lines."

Adrien and Marinette were once again reminded of how old their companions were by the far-away look that overtook their eyes.

"So the akumas are back, whatever," Marinette waved her arms in the air. "Maybe I needed a little more excitement recently."

"Mari," Adrien put his hand on her arm. "You know we can't do this all over again. What if it takes ten years again? Or twenty? I hate to say it Bugaboo, but we can't fight akumas into our sixties. It's not realistic."

Marinette stepped back, and a look of betrayal briefly crossed over her face. Sure, she may not have wanted to be Ladybug at first, but now, over twenty years later, giving it all up would be like ripping off one of her limbs. It wasn't right. It wasn't fair!

"You're right," she heard herself mumble. Trying to blink away the tears that were starting to form in her eyes. "Does this mean you guys have to leave? For good?"

Tikki flew up and nuzzled herself into Marinette's cheek. "Not necessarily," she soothed. "Why don't we go talk about this in the house? It requires a bit of explaining."

Marinette nodded, and Adrien hopped off the table to go switch the front door sign to "closed." The four of them then went up the staircase into the apartment.

"Why don't you sit down, Adrien? I'll go get some snacks and tea and then we'll talk this all out."

It only took a moment, but once she returned with the two mugs and a plate of cookies and camembert balanced on top, the discussion got started.

"So, to begin: you are aware that Fu is the Guardian of the Miraculous, correct?" Tikki chirped. Adrien and Marinette nodded. Of course they knew that, they had personally returned the Peacock to him and watched as he placed it in the box with the others.

Plagg continued, "Well, he is also responsible for assigning them to new charges—"

"So you guys have to go to him now?" Adrien interrupted.

"Let me finish," Plagg grumbled. "As I was saying, he is responsible for assigning new charges. Except, Tikki and I don't really work like that. We're a packaged deal, for one, and because of that there are a few more qualifications that our charges have to have."

"It's also because we are the most powerful," Tikki explained further. "It is a huge responsibility to wield either Miraculous, so they can't be handed down to just anyone."

Marinette set her tea off to the side. "Is this just a way to boost our confidence? Where is this going?"

Plagg rolled his eyes, "We're trying to be dramatic here!"

"Do you remember how you found the earrings, Marinette?" Tikki prompted.

"They were in a box of my grandmother's things, I think?"

"And Adrien, how about your ring?"

"My mother left it for me, but she also was the owner of the Peacock Miraculous. How could she have used both?"

"Your mother was a special case," Plagg explained. "I never told you this, because I never thought it was relevant, but your mother only came into possession of the ring after the previous Chat Noir . . . passed."

Adrien sat back and sipped his tea while he tried to process the information.

"The Ladybug and Chat Noir Miraculous are special because they remain with in families—usually immediate family or closely related like a niece or a cousin," Tikki stated. "I know you two have thought that this might be the case, and you are right."

Plagg continued, "The only times the Miraculous is given to someone outside these close familial lines is when there is essentially no heir to the line."

"It has only happened a few times," Tikki informed. "In the past, it was slightly more common, as life expectancies were low and unfortunately our charges would pass before their time. It's not always tragic; other times have been when the only children of only children don't carry on the family but still live long, happy lives."

"My aunt never had any children," Marinette remembered. Her mother once told her that her sister had dedicated her life to looking after their mother and caring for children that had been displaced from their families. She never married, and had never wanted to. "Is that why the earrings are now mine?"

"Partly," Tikki explained. "Following within the family line is an important part of the process, but not the only qualification."

"You still have to be good people," Plagg explained. "That is often much harder to find, especially within candidates for Chat Noir. The power of destruction is easily corrupted, and it takes a certain kind of person to handle it."

"So what about the last Chat?" Adrien asked, "Why did they give the ring to my mother?"

Plagg looked like he had bad memories infiltrating his thoughts. "The past Chat Noir was your uncle, your mother's brother, Jean. Great kid, always brought plenty of cheese."

He floated down to rest on the table. Marinette sensed his mood dampening, so she passed one of the pieces of cheese to him. He didn't eat it right away, but rather clutched it to his chest while he spoke.

"He moved to Tibet to help the Ladybug at the time—not with fighting magic or anything, but rather just to try to keep the Miraculous together and help with her humanitarian efforts." He flashed them a weak smile at the memory, before he sighed and continued, "There was an accident. A flood; the consequences of being the embodiment of bad luck. Jean went out to try and rescue some people that were at risk in the local village . . . but he didn't make it out."

The four sat in silence for a moment, honoring the fallen Chat Noir.

"Jean and Adele were the end of the line at the time. They had no cousins, no other siblings, and Adele couldn't take up the role because she had already been given the Peacock Miraculous to deal with something here in Paris."

Plagg actually smiled a little as he continued, "Normally that would mean a new Chat would have to be chosen from a new line, but you were three years old at the time, and your mother managed to talk me in to waiting to see how you turned out before anything permanent was done. . ."

Marinette could have sworn she heard Plagg mutter, "and I'm glad I did," at the end. Adrien, on the other hand, scooped Plagg up and brought him up to his face.

"Aww, Plagg!" he cooed. "You do care about me!"

"Well, I figured I'd get the best camembert if I stayed in a wealthy family," he joked, but rubbed his face against Adrien's cheek like a kitten.

While the other two shared a moment, Tikki turned to Marinette. "The reason we are telling you all this now is because it's time again to pass the responsibility on."

Plagg rejoined the conversation, "the thing is, you're both only children, so that really only leaves us with two options."

"You don't mean-?" Adrien started.

"We do," Tikki confirmed. "Hugo and Emma will be the next Ladybug and Chat Noir."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These first few chapters are going to mainly focus on dialogue between Marinette, Adrien, Tikki, and Plagg. I promise that the twins will appear soon, and then the story will mostly revolve around them.
> 
> Also, if you do suffer from anxiety and anxiety attacks, the method of using your senses to describe what is going on around you is a good way to try and distract yourself/work through what triggered the attack in the first place (at least in my experience; I'm not a mental health expert).


	3. Choose One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette and Adrien discuss who they should pass their roles too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is more of a short filler chapter than actual plot AND the last one before the twins show up.

Marinette wasn't sure how she was supposed to feel about the news that her children would be putting themselves at risk every day. But she was also aware that she wouldn't be able to argue much on that point, however, considering she did the exact same thing that she would be protesting against.

Adrien, on the other hand, looked excited at the prospect. Despite all the unpleasant and sometimes terrible things they may have endured as Ladybug and Chat Noir, overall it was a wonderful experience and they both grew from it. Perhaps he was thinking about that, or about of all the tips he would get to share with them, or maybe he was just happy that Plagg would be staying in the house with them. He did always have a soft spot for the little cat, even if they bickered constantly.

"So," Marinette started. "How does this work."

"It's actually quite a unique situation," Tikki explained. "Believe it or not, this is the first time that the Ladybug and Chat Noir lines have been within the same immediate family."

"Sure, Ladybug and Chat have gotten together before." Plagg rolled his eyes, "but none of them have ever been as disgustingly obsessed with each other as you two."

"Many of them either already had partners, or simply maintained a close friendship without the need or wish for any kind of romantic relationship. This is a new experience for all of us!"

"Does that affect the decision in any way?" Adrien asked.

"Well, since Hugo and Emma share the lines of _both_ Ladybug _and_ Chat Noir, the decision is not as concrete as to which will be which," Plagg explained.

"Ultimately the decision is up to fate." Tikki shared a look with Plagg, "but that doesn't mean we don't have to carefully consider the situation."

"We wanted to ask for your inputs," Plagg revealed. "They are your children, after all. While we may know them well enough by observation, you know them best."

Marinette and Adrien felt honored that both of their kids were considered good enough people to carry on either role, and even more honored that the kwamis wanted their input.

"Emma should be Chat Noir," Adrien stated immediately.

"That was very quick," Marinette rolled her eyes, a thought crossing her mind. "You've put thought into this before, haven't you?"

"Maybe…" Adrien mumbled.

"And what makes you say that Emma should be Chat, Adrien?" Tikki asked.

"She has the right attitude," Adrien explained. "I can definitely see her using all of my purr-fect puns."

"The decision is not based on which one of them is more likely to make _puns_ , Adrien." Marinette glared at him before she continued, "I do think out of the two of them she is the most like you, though."

"Are you guys considering all of their qualities?" Plagg asked. "It's not just which one matches you best; they are their own people after all."

"Plagg's right," Tikki agreed. "Consider how the powers will benefit them, and how their personality traits will play into the roles."

For the first time, Marinette put real thought into comparing her children to each other. It was something every mother tried to avoid doing, out of fairness to the individuality of her children, but in this case it was objective and necessary. In her mind, she was considering each of their personality traits, the pros and cons of hoe that would play out in the suits, and then trying to sort them into categories that were essential to being either Ladybug or Chat Noir.

Hugo was more academically oriented than Emma, never missing an assignment and maintaining a relatively high average, but he also lacked behind her in terms of social skills. It wasn't anything major, he was just more reserved and tended to put more thought into his actions before he did anything. Despite that, he was much better at reading people's emotions than she was, but Marinette wasn't sure if that translated better to Ladybug or Chat Noir.

On the other hand, Emma was much more active, not necessarily in terms of athleticism, but rather in terms of being outside with friends and not being able to sit still. That was a decent quality for a superhero, as her activeness would help counteract the sleepless nights of 2 AM akuma attacks, but still didn't help narrow the decision. Emma was resourceful and a good problem-solver, too; something that Ladybug need to figure out how to use the random items provided by the Lucky Charm. She was also rather impulsive, much like her father was back when he was a teenager, and that ultimately made up Marinette's mind on the matter.

"Emma can't be Chat Noir," she stated. There was a sense of urgency to her voice that made Adrien realize she wasn't about to change her mind.

"Why not?"

"I had enough stress worrying that you would do something stupid and self-sacrificial back when we were battling akumas; I can't go through that with her, too."

Adrien nodded in understanding, "Maybe that is for the best. Emma may be the one that is most like me, but maybe if she were Ladybug she would learn to think before she acts and become a little more responsible."

"And Hugo could definitely benefit from having to deal with Plagg all the time," Marinette joked. "He also tends to be more accurate with his motor skills, which will be good when handling Cataclysm. He's the least likely to miss the target."

"Although, I would have to give him more tips on how to fight. Emma is the one with the fencing experience, so she'd pick up using the baton easier. Hugo is better with projectiles."

"Honey," Marinette said. She put her hand on his arm and gave him the sweetest look she could muster, "I never told you this, but you never used that staff properly. At all. I think I'd rather send him to my mom; she may be old, but at least she actually had previous training in the weapon."

"Sabine knows how to fight?" Adrien asked. When Marinette just nodded, he said "Why didn't you ever tell me that?"

"Well, by time she knew about our superhero selves—well, I mean by time we told them; since they apparently already knew—you knowing how to fight properly wasn't really relevant anymore."

Adrien sighed; as usual, Marinette was right. "So, we're going with Emma as Ladybug and Hugo as Chat Noir?"

"Yes," Marinette nodded. "It takes into account their strengths and weaknesses while still giving them the most opportunities to grow as a person. I think they'll do great."

"We agree that Emma should be Ladybug and Hugo should be Chat Noir," Tikki smiled.

"Let me guess," Marinette faked pensiveness. "You two already knew which one was going to be which, but wanted to check and make sure we agreed and understood why before you said anything?"

Tikki blushed and nodded, "We didn't want to upset you guys if you didn't agree."

Marinette picked up Tikki and rubbed her against her face. "Oh Tikki, I could never be mad at you. I'm going to really miss your company during the day, though. It's going to be so quiet around here while I'm working."

Adrien grinned mischievously at Plagg, "I dunno, I don't think I'm going to miss having my desk drawers smell like cheese. I won't have to spray air freshener before office hours anymore."

"I'm gonna miss hanging out with your dumb self everyday too, kid," Plagg chuckled.

"The good news is we won't be far!" Tikki cheered. "And now we will actually get to sit at the dinner table instead of hiding around the house."

"Right," Plagg nodded. "Now for the fun part: what's the most fun way to tell the kids?"


	4. Surprise Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to tell the kids.

Emma and Hugo burst into the house right at seven o'clock.

"Hey, Mom?" Emma yelled in greeting, "Next time you go to the store, can you buy me some more hair dye?"

Emma had been born with golden hair much like her father's, but over the years, genetics had taken over and her hair turned to a much darker shade of brown. It wasn't that she didn't like her natural color; she just liked the dirty blonde color better. And after dyeing it for the past three years, by this point she couldn't imagine letting the roots grow out.

Marinette came out of the kitchen to greet them by the door, "Of course, sweetheart. How were your lessons today?"

Hugo was putting the violin cases away in the closet for the day. He replied, "Lessons were good, Mom, except for when Emma almost poked me in the eye with her bow." He shot a glare at his sister, who shrugged innocently. "Oh, don't forget that we have that recital in a few weeks."

"Your father and I are looking forward to it," Marinette smiled. "And how was the rest of your day? Anything good, bad, or exciting happen?"

Emma tossed her arm around her brother's shoulders, which was quite difficult because of his size. "Yeah, Hugo, anything happen today? I noticed you went missing right around lunch time, and oddly enough I couldn't seem to find Isabelle either…"

She laughed as he blushed beet red.

"Shut up, Em. You know she wasn't there today, and I was in the library studying for that English exam we had in fifth period. Unlike you, I actually want to do well."

Marinette just smiled at their antics. She knew Hugo had a huge crush on his old childhood friend, Isabelle. Unfortunately, he seemed to be as helpless when it came to her as Marinette had once been around Adrien.

"Still haven't had the nerve to ask her out yet?" Marinette teased lightly. "That's okay, sweetie. Did your father ever tell you how much of a stuttering mess I was around him?"

Hugo sighed. Of course he had heard the stories; hundreds of times in fact. "Yes Mom, and I should look at how happy you guys are now and know that everything will work out in the end."

Marinette smiled and patted his cheek, "That's right, so don't let your sister's teasing get to you. Anyways, why don't you two go upstairs and get cleaned up, and we'll have dinner in about half an hour?"

The twins nodded and walked upstairs together before splitting off into their own bedrooms.

* * *

 

Hugo's room was much smaller than his mother's childhood room had been, and miniscule in comparison to his father's. Hugo certainly made the most of the space, however. Once side of the room was lined with bookshelves, filled with not only books, but things he had collected over the years like framed photos and basketball trophies. On the other side of the room was a twin-sized bed with simple navy bedding, which he had recently noticed was getting kind of small. Against the far wall was his desk, which was a simple black table with a rolling chair.

Hugo tossed his backpack down on his bed before going to rustle through his drawers to find his pajamas. It was fairly easy to find the green and black plaid pants in his well-organized dresser, and he quickly tossed them onto the bed as he searched for the matching old t-shirt.

Just as he was about to change, he noticed something sitting on his desk amongst the mountains of papers.

It was that weird cat bobble-head his dad always moved around the house. Usually, it stayed in the living room, the kitchen, or in his father's office, so Hugo thought it was a bit strange that it ended up in his room.

More importantly, the bobble-head being there also meant his dad had seen his desk, where he had a sketchbook and some poetry sitting out. The sketchbook was innocent enough because it was open to the latest comic Hugo was working on, but he had also been writing some pretty sappy love poems that could also be spotted sticking out behind books. He could only imagine how much his father was going to tease him at dinner.

Groaning at the thought, Hugo went to pick up the bobble-head toy and put it in his pocket. However, he was surprised to find out that it was furry and . . . warm? Like it was alive. That just made it ten times creepier than he had found it before.

"BOO!" it suddenly yelled, snapping to life. Hugo let out a high pitch scream and dropped the toy, but when it remained floating in the air and laughing at him, he figured he must have fallen asleep at some point and was dreaming right now.

"Oh kid," the cat-doll laughed. "That was the funniest thing I've seen in a long time, and I watched your dork of a father grow up."

That seemed to be the only explanation the cat was going to give and it wasn't enough to satisfy Hugo.

"This is a dream, right?" he asked. "You're Dad's weird little cat toy, so the fact that you're talking and floating means that I'm asleep, right?"

The cat kept laughing, "You're as awake as I am, kid. My name's Plagg, and I'm an all-powerful god here to give you magic powers!"

"Magic . . . powers?" Hugo seemed unconvinced.

"Ever heard of Chat Noir?"

Hugo nodded, "Of course, there's a statue of him in the park by the school. He saved Paris from villains about twenty years ago, right? With a partner? I think Mom and Dad were big fans."

Plagg smiled, "Yeah, you could say that."

"Are you telling me that you're Chat Noir?"

"Come on kid, I thought you were the smart one. I'm here because you are going to the new Chat Noir, and I'm going to give you powers."

"Why?"

Plagg thought, why can't this kid be as excited at the other one was?

"Look, kid. There's evil that needs to be fought, and you're the only one that can do it. The old Chat Noir is—well, old now. So it's up to you."

Hugo took a step back from the kwami and held his hands up. "I am definitely not the kind of person who needs to be a superhero. I'm really busy with classes, and I have . . . um, a ton of books I have to read? So sorry, Plagg, I can't do it." He pointed to the door behind him, "But you could go try and ask my sister. I'm sure she'd be up to it; she loves a challenge."

"I'm afraid your sister has her own destiny to deal with."

* * *

 

Emma's room was very similar to Hugo's, but unlike his black and navy decorations, her room was white and gold themed. She also was much messier than her brother, with clothes and school work scattered all around the room and piled up in the corners. She had lost count of how many times she had tripped over her fencing mask.

Emma was searching through the piles of clothes scattered around her room when she spotted her mother's spare pincushion sitting up on her desk. She never understood why her mother owned the thing, as she obviously found it too cute to ever actually stick pins in it. It was also the weirdest pin cushion she'd ever seen, with large, unblinking eyes and an oversized head. Emma stared at it for a while, feeling like it was staring back, until suddenly, it blinked.

"Woah!" Emma exclaimed, "Did you just blink?"

She thought it was kind of silly to be talking to the plush toy. That was until it started talking back, of course.

"Hi Emma, I'm Tikki!"

"How do you know my name?" she narrowed her eyes at Tikki. It obviously wasn't really a pincushion, but she wasn't sure if it was alive or just one of those creepy old toys that talked.

"I've known you since you were born, Emma! But it's nice to get to formally meet you! I'm a kwami—sort of a magical entity—here to give you superpowers so you can fight evil!"

"Superpowers?"

Tikki smiled and floated up to Emma's eye level. "Yep! Have you ever heard of Ladybug and Chat Noir?"

"Yes," Emma replied. "We've talked about them in school before. Mom and Dad really like them, and they have a statue in the park by Grandma and Grandpa's house."

"Well, I'm here to tell you that you're going to be the new Ladybug!"

"Really?" Emma was excited at the idea. Instead of running her way throughout Paris, she'd be able to swing around like Spider-Man AND get to help people! However, if there was a need for a new superhero, then that meant that there was also a new supervillain. "Wait, does this mean that Paris is going to be under attack again?"

Tikki sighed, "Unfortunately, yes. But don't worry! He has to learn how to use his powers just like you are going to have to learn how to use yours, so I promise you will be able to handle it."

"Okay . . ." Emma nodded, "So, is there like something special I have to do in order to become Ladybug?"

Tikki smirked, "Why don't we go downstairs for dinner first?"

"Okay?"

With Tikki safely hidden in the pocket of her hoodie, Emma walked downstairs to join her family at the dinner table. Hugo was already downstairs, looking more uncomfortable than usual, and maybe even nervous. Emma shot him a questioning glance as she sat down next to him.

Their father came to sit down at the table next, carrying the spaghetti that he had no doubt helped make. Like them, he had also changed into loungewear and had a black and green headband with cat ears on for some reason.

Emma looked over to see if Hugo knew what was going on, but rather than sharing her confusion, he had paled and was staring at the table.

"Hugo," she whispered. "Are you okay?"

His green eyes looked up to meet hers, and he gave an unsure smile and a half-hearted thumbs up. Emma just shrugged; her brother was so weird sometimes.

Marinette entered the room next, carrying a pan of bread. She had also changed before dinner, but unlike the other three she was wearing a red and black polka dotted sundress. Not only was it an odd choice to wear for a stay at home dinner, but it was also an odd choice for a chilly February night.

She sat the bread down on the table and then took her seat next to her husband. They were both smiling, but it was an expectant smile. No one was motioning towards the food.

"Okay," Emma sighed. "I give up. What is wrong with all of you? Hugo looks ready to shrink into his plate, Dad looks like a dork, and Mom, you are aware it's negative two degrees outside, right?"

Marinette just laughed, "Why, do our outfits remind you of something?"

Emma narrowed her eyes at her parents, taking in their stupid grins and even stupider outfits.

"This is about the talking pincushion, isn't it?"

* * *

 

Hugo immediately knew that his father had a pretty good idea what his talking cat bobble-head had told him. He was terrified that his dad would yell at him for taking Plagg, or worse, that he would try to pressure him into accepting his offer to be Chat Noir.

No surprise, Emma seemed to pick up on his nervousness right away, and it only got worse when their dad sat down at the table wearing cat ears of all things.

But when Emma started talking about a talking pincushion, Hugo had a pretty good idea about where this night was going.

"I take it you mean Tikki," Marinette smiled. "What gave it away?"

"Dad's wearing cat ears, Mom." Emma motioned towards Adrien, who still had a goofy smile on his face. "If this isn't about that, then I'm afraid you're both going senile."

Marinette just laughed. "Good, you met Tikki then!"

Hugo's father turned to face him, "and what about you, Hugo?"

He knew there was no point trying to lie his way out of it, because even if he did, Plagg would fly out of his sweatpants and give him away.

"Yes, your bobble-head god scared the living daylights out of me, Dad."

Tikki and Plagg took that as their cue to make themselves seen.

"Woah, you got one too?" Emma yelled. She held her hand up for a high-five, but Hugo just shook his head. Turning back towards his parents, Hugo asked, "Why didn't you guys tell us you were Ladybug and Chat Noir?"

"Wait, really?' Emma interrupted. "I thought Tikki had just been pretending to be your pin cushion around you, too! Mom! You just gained some serious cool points!" She was practically bouncing up and down in her seat with excitement at the news.

"Hey, what about me?" Adrien pouted. "I'm Chat Noir! Well, at least until today I was…"

Marinette patted her husband's shoulder.

Plagg rolled his eyes, "Adrien you can't get all sappy on me now."

Adrien nodded, "I know, I know."

"So are you guys going to tell us what's going on?" Emma asked.

"Evil is back in Paris," Marinette sighed. "And you guys are going to be the ones to stop it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in two days (Can you tell I've been procrastinating my schoolwork?)! This chapter is almost twice as long as the last one, because I don't believe in chapter length consistency. From now on the story will follow and focus mainly on Emma and Hugo, with Marinette and Adrien playing more supportive roles.


	5. Say Yes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma and Hugo argue over what being heroes mean for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A shorter chapter, but this was one of my favorites to write.

Emma rolled her eyes, "You guys are ridiculously dramatic. I want to hear about you guys! Tell us some of your adventures, or at least tell us how to use the powers. Why did you wait until now to tell us?"

It was obvious she was much more excited at the idea than Hugo was, which Marinette and Adrien had expected; she was just a more excitable person.

"Well we never told you when you were younger because we couldn't take the chance that you would go running around Paris telling everyone that your parents are Ladybug and Chat Noir," Adrien chuckled. "It would have been the story of the century with the news and paparazzi, and I've had enough of them already to last a lifetime."

Emma and Hugo nodded. They knew that despite their father's job as a professor, he hated being the center of attention. They had stumbled across his old modelling pictures once before and had a good laugh over how ridiculous they had been. Their mother told them that girls all across Paris had those pictures posted in their bedrooms, which had been funny, but got even funnier when their dad told them that their mom had been one of them. But now knowing he was Chat Noir as well? That was a lot of unwanted attention for one person to deal with.

"And we are passing the duty onto you because, according to your father, I'm a fragile senior citizen now." Marinette continued, "I still feel as young as ever, but I'm too old to take down Hawkmoth again."

"Don't worry, Bugaboo, I'm sure you could still beat me up," Adrien laughed.

"Oh my gosh," Emma cringed. "That's where all the weird nicknames came from! You guys are so gross."

"Yes," Marinette chuckled. "It's also where your father's love of cat puns came from. Anyways, there is one more thing you need before you can become Ladybug and Chat Noir."

They both placed small, hexagonal black boxes on the table and slid them towards the children. At this point, all of them had completely forgotten that dinner was on the table as well.

Emma was eager to reach forward and take the box, but Hugo was more hesitant.

"Um, Dad?" he started. "This is great and all, and I'm really honored that you all think I'm fit to be a superhero, but I really think you need to reconsider…"

"We can't, Hugo." Adrien said, trying to hide his disappointment. "This is a hereditary role, son, which means that you and Emma are the only ones who can fill it."

Hugo sighed and shrunk back into his chair. He was afraid that was the case, but it didn't mean he had to accept, right? Surely Emma could handle the job on her own. He looked over and could see the excitement clearly written on her face; _she_ wanted this, he didn't.

But would he really put her through all that just because he didn't want to do it? On her own? He had read enough books and comics to know that while heroes usually won in the end, it was not without a significant amount of pain and loss.

They were just teenagers, too. How could their parents be endorsing this behavior?

"When did you guys become superheroes?" he asked.

Marinette and Adrien shared a glance, silently figuring out who was going to explain.

Marinette said, "Well, Tikki and Plagg showed up on our thirteenth birthdays, and we became partners right around fifteen."

"Your mother literally fell for me," Adrien joked.

Hugo internally groaned, not only at the pun, but also because he'd been hoping that they hadn't accepted the roles until their late teens; there went his best argument.

Deciding to let Hugo and Emma discuss things between themselves, Adrien, Marinette and the kwamis went to the kitchen. Of course, they kept their ears pressed to the door to listen in on the conversation.

"Why don't you want to do it, Hugo?" Emma asked once they had gone. The confusion that was swimming in her eyes at his actions had almost completely erased the excitement that had previously been radiating off of her. She was clutching the little black box that their mother had passed her, but still hadn't opened it to see what was inside. Like she was waiting for him to accept first.

"I-I just don't think I'm cut out," Hugo said. "Not like you are or Mom and Dad were. Plus, I'm already so busy as it is…"

He knew he was playing his last cards to try to get out of the job. Emma did, too.

"Hugo, I know you are worried about what might happen, but look at Mom and Dad; they've still got all their limbs, no radioactive side-effects or whatever, and they even got a statue from the city. _We learn about our parents in school, Hugo._ I don't understand, don't you want that?"

"I don't want all the attention," Hugo argued. "I've never wanted that kind of attention. I just want to go to school and be _normal._ "

"That's what the mask is for!" She exclaimed. "You wear the mask, you get the job done, and then you go back to life in anonymity! You're just being selfish! Think of all the people in Paris that are going to suffer if we don't do this!"

She was yelling near the end of her speech, and Hugo had to admit he felt a little guilty.

"I'm not saying you don't have to accept!" he fired back. "You can make your own decisions, Emma!"

"I wouldn't want to do it alone!"

"Then we'll find someone else to be your partner! There's got to be a way around the heredity thing!"

"I don't _want_ anyone else to be my partner, Hugo!" She yelled, jumping out of her seat to glare at him. "You're my best friend, my _brother_. We do _everything_ together, whether we want to or not! This is something we _have_ to do, and we have to do it together! Ladybug and Chat Noir are partners, and who is more in sync with me than my own twin brother!"

"You know what happens to twins in these situations!" Hugo yelled back with tears in his eyes. "They go in together, and one of them always ends up seriously hurt or _dead!_ Do you think I want that to happen to you? Or to me? Being a twin fighting evil is always a tragedy, Emma, and I don't want either of our lives to be that way!"

Emma was taken aback at his words and fell back into her chair. "You're scared," she whispered.

"Of _course_ I'm scared!" he cried. "I don't want to be a tragedy, Emma. I don't want _you_ to be one, either."

"You're scared," she repeated. "That's the reason you don't want to be Chat Noir!" It was an epiphany for her, but it didn't mean she was about to just drop the argument. "We all have to face our fears, Hugo. That's just how life is. We can't just sit back and let the city suffer because we're afraid of what might happen to us; that's just what _duty_ is."

"But why does it have to be _our_ duty? Why should we be the ones to risk our lives?"

"Do you not think I'm scared about that, too? But it's not about me, just like it's not about you. It's a responsibility to the citizens of Paris who don't deserve to be terrorized by a madman trying to manipulate them for his own personal gain!" She took a deep breath and leaned back in her chair, closing her eyes, "I'm _terrified_ , Hugo. What if I'm not cut out for it? What if I mess up? But it's not going to stop me from trying."

Hugo had to admit he hadn't considered what she had been feeling about the situation. Usually he was good at reading people's emotions, but he had been so distracted by his own hesitations that he hadn't realized she was just as nervous as he was.

She was right; it was their job to protect the city. If they didn't, who would? Their parents? Some other pair of twins that don't have half the resources available to them? He couldn't be selfish like that, even if he wanted to.

Maybe if was there too, he could stop anything bad from happening to either of them. They did have an advantage of already working together well, and maybe that could be enough.

Like she had been reading his thoughts, she finished, "We won't be a tragedy if we work together and have each other's backs."

There was a stretch of awkward silence as Hugo mentally weighed the pros and cons.

"Fine," he sighed. "I'll do it."

Marinette and Adrien re-entered the room so quickly after he agreed that Hugo knew they must've been listening. If that hadn't given them away, the tears in their mother's eyes as she ran up to embrace them was a dead giveaway.

"I am so proud of you both," she cried. "How did I get so lucky to have such amazing children? You two are going to be _amazing_ heroes, and I want you to know that your father and I will be behind you the entire time. Don't be afraid to ask for anything, and we will do everything we can to help you."

Emma giggled and hugged her mom back, "Of course, Mom."

Marinette released them and went to stand by Adrien. He wrapped his arm around her and kissed her forehead as she wiped her eyes with his shirt. The kwamis joined them a moment later.

"Why don't you open the boxes now?" Tikki asked. Emma and Hugo nodded in response, grabbing the boxes that had been discarded on the table with the forgotten dinner.

They glanced at each other as they picked up the boxes. Opening them at the same time, they shared confused looks after seeing what was inside.

"Earrings?" Emma asked. "Did you get earrings too, Hugo?"

Hugo rolled his eyes, "No, I got a ring."

"What are these for?" Emma asked their parents.

"Put them on," was the only response they got. Shrugging, Emma took out the simple pearl earrings she had been wearing and replaced them with the black studs she found in the box.

Hugo slid the ring onto his right hand, shedding the reluctance he held only minutes prior. It was heavier than he would have chosen for himself, but it was a nice ring and he certainly didn't hate it.

"Now what?" Emma asked. Tikki and Plagg flew in front of their respected new charges.

"Now, all you have to say is "transforme-moi" and we will do the rest," Plagg said.

"On three?" Hugo said.

Emma nodded, "One."

"Two."

"Three!"

" _Transforme-moi_ _!_ " they chorused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I've updated a lot recently, but don't be surprised if I disappear for a week or two after this chapter. Not only do I have evaluations for my French class for the next two weeks, but I also still have a few more quirks to work out with how this is going to continue. I hope you understand, and please keep reviewing :)


	6. Première

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a filler-ish chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry, I've been meaning to post this for a week but I just kept forgetting because I've been so busy with class, internships, etc. Time to get this show on the road. I hope you like this chapter, and I'll try to get the next one up in a few days.

At their words, two bright flashes of light enveloped the room, making Marinette and Adrien shield their eyes.

Emma felt the magic overtake her as she watched her clothes be replaced with red and black spots. Once the mask was covering her face, she could feel the difference that the suit brought. She felt stronger, braver, and although she wasn't moving, faster.

Hugo had a similar experience. As the black leather replaced his pajamas, he felt the last hints of hesitation flow out of him. When the mask covered his face, the entire room shifted to a green tint. He didn't need to look in the mirror to know the mask had some sort of built-in night vision goggles.

Once the lights faded away, Marinette and Adrien looked proudly at the two superheroes in front of them.

"Does this suit really have a tail?" Hugo asked.

"And ears," Adrien smiled. Hugo looked over to see if Emma also had a costume with a literal interpretation.

While the red and black spots clearly screamed 'ladybug,' that was really the only thing. "Where are her antennae or wings?"

"The Ladybug suit is very simple," Marinette explained. "Both have their advantages, however. I'm not sure what purpose the tail serves, but the ears and cat eyes are very practical."

"Balance," Adrien stated. "The tail gives balance by acting as—"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, Dad." Emma cut him off, "We don't need the physics lesson. Just tell us how this works."

Their parents chuckled. "Well, we think it's best for you to try it out for yourselves first, and then we'll give you tips later," Adrien smiled.

Marinette added, "Oh, and your grandmother will be giving you some more tips tomorrow, Hugo, on how to use the baton. Make sure that you go there after school."

"Alright, Mom."

"Now go," she pointed towards the balcony doors. "But don't stay out too late. You still have school tomorrow."

The twins nodded and walked to the balcony, throwing the doors open. Emma unhooked the yo-yo from her hip, and after giving it a few test movements, flung it out as far as it would go.

"Woah," she whispered. "So cool." She jumped up on the railing and pulled the string tight before flinging herself into the night. Recognizing that her tool would be the best to lead the way, Hugo unclipped the baton from his back and tried to keep up with her.

* * *

As the two new heroes bounded around the city testing their powers, a man stood in a dimly lit room on the other side of town. He was alone except for the hundreds of white butterflies that surrounded him.

Unlike his predecessor, this man had no family. No wife he was trying to find, and no son he was trying to protect from the heartbreak that was the real world. All this man had was a newly reformed butterfly miraculous, a kwami who only got the briefest hint of freedom before being captured again, and an unrelenting thirst for absolute power.

He had followed the stories of Ladybug and Chat Noir very closely back when the previous Hawkmoth had been active, and as soon as the news broke that the man behind the mask had been captured, he immediately began searching for the source of the power. After finding the smashed butterfly pin on the floor of the final battle, he spent the next twenty years painstakingly repairing it and tracking down the kwami that inhabited it.

He studied the tactics employed by the previous Hawkmoth, taking into account the backgrounds and ages of all the people that had been akumatized. He noticed what hadn't worked for him, such as using mildly inconvenienced people to try to steal the Ladybug and Chat Noir Miraculous, and formulated his own strategy based on the research.

He also noticed the pattern that showed the akuma were located around a central point—the local school. After sifting through a few years of class records and akumas, Hawkmoth quickly discovered something his predecessor hadn't: within a four-year time period, everyone in the school had been akumatized, except for two students in the same class. He thought he may have stumbled upon the true identities of Ladybug and Chat Noir, but once he realized that the two students were the son of the former Hawkmoth and his long-time girlfriend, he figured they had just been spared.

His leads all ran cold, however, once his kwami alerted him that there was a new Ladybug and Chat Noir currently making round throughout the city. This information did not dishearten him, rather excite him as the new inexperienced heroes would stand no chance against his vast knowledge of the Miraculous.

* * *

School the next day was a new experience, even if it didn't seem any different on the surface. None of the students saw Plagg in Hugo's backpack or Tikki in Emma's, but the students were buzzing with news that a new Ladybug and Chat Noir had been spotted.

The twins had only patrolled for about an hour and a half, but the people of Paris had developed a knack for spotting their heroes in the night. While the disguises were strong enough that no one had ever discovered Ladybug and Chat Noir's identities, even the most oblivious Parisian could spot the physical differences in the new heroes.

Emma flopped down on the stairs to wait for her friend after she and Hugo had walked to school that morning. Hugo was a short distance away, no doubt waiting for Isabelle, when Charles came running up the steps to meet Emma.

"Emma, you won't believe what I have!" He exclaimed before shoving his phone in her face. On it was a picture of her and Hugo—well, Ladybug and Chat Noir—obviously taken when they had stopped to catch their breaths.

"What's that, Charlie?" Emma replied, sounding less interested than she meant.

Charles pushed his curly brown hair off his forehead while he explained, "There's a new Ladybug and Chat Noir! I took this picture last night when I was going home after studying in the library."

"How do you know they're new? And why were you at the library so late?"

"They look younger, with different hair colors, and they're smaller than the other ones. Do you think they retired? My mom said Ladybug and Chat Noir first showed up when she was in collège, so they must be at least her age by now…" He trailed off at the end, looking like he was doing mental math. "Oh, and I was at the library so late because I may have accidentally fallen asleep while doing my physics homework."

"You're hopeless," Emma replied, laughing. "So who are these newbies?"

"No one knows, just like no one knew who the last two were. At first I thought maybe the previous Ladybug and Chat Noir would come forward and reveal themselves, but I don't think that'll happen."

"Why not?" Emma asked. If he had thought it was a possibility before, she wondered what made him change his mind.

"I think the newbies are their kids, or at least Chat Noir must be—he's got the same hair color as Ladybug, but the eye color of Chat Noir."

Emma was a little uncomfortable with how quickly Charles caught on, especially just after one patrol, but she wasn't about to mention it. Curse Hugo for looking so much like their parents. She should've changed the subject, but couldn't help continue, "What about the new Ladybug?"

"I don't think they're related," Charles shrugged, "She looks like she could be related to Chat Noir, the previous one that it, but I'm not convinced. There's plenty of blonde people in Paris…like you."

She made eye contact with him to make sure there wasn't any hint of accusation there. But, his hazel eyes showed no sign of anything other than his usual cheerfulness.

Emma let out the breath she didn't realize she had been holding. While people may have been a little suspicious of Chat Noir, Ladybug was in the clear, despite his last comment.

Charles wasn't finished yet though, stating, "The new Ladybug is pretty hot, though. You can't really tell from the picture, but in person she looked like a supermodel, and that suit doesn't hide _anything_ if you know what I mean."

"Charles!" she exclaimed. She tried to fight the embarrassed blush that threatened to take over her face at the idea of her best friend _checking her out._ "That's so gross, don't go ogling superheroes now!"

 _Especially when they're me!_ she thought. Charles just chuckled and put his phone back in his pocket.

"It's not gross, I was just making an observation," he responded, shrugging. "I think part of the job of Ladybug and Chat Noir is that they have to be conventionally attractive. It adds to the whole hero effect."

When he was met with Emma's confused expression, he continued. "When pretty people are superheroes or play them in movies, it just adds to their charm I guess. Like you aren't just being saved, but being saved by the _brave and beautiful Ladybug_. I bet within a week half the girls in Paris will have the new Chat Noir displayed all over their walls as well. It's just the superhero culture."

Emma crossed her arms, "I don't know, it seems pretty creepy to me. They're people too, and others are just going to objectify them?"

"I'm not saying I agree," Charles held his hand up defensively. "It was just another observation. I know I said Ladybug was attractive, but that doesn't mean I'm going to obsess over her."

"Good," Emma chirped. "The last thing I need is you talking about superheroes all the time. Remember when you got obsessed with that old anime my dad showed you a couple of years ago? I thought you were never going to shut up about it."

"Oh shut up, Em," Charles rolled his eyes. "Or do I need to remind you about a certain seven year-old's obsession with a certain American rock singer?"

Emma narrowed her eyes, "Touché, Charles Lefebvre."

"Always a pleasure, Emma Dupain-Cheng."

* * *

 

Hugo watched Emma and Charles out of the corner of his eye while he waited for Isabelle to show up. He texted her earlier and asked if she'd make it that day, and she reassured that she would be there ten minutes before the bell as usual.

He was playing a game on his phone when she walked up. " _Salut_ , Hugo!" she greeted with a wave. Hugo smiled back.

"Hey, Isabelle. What's up?"

"Oh just the usual," she waved nonchalantly. "I accidentally slept in yesterday. It was so late I decided to just skip altogether, but at least I'm well-rested now."

She laughed at the end of her explanation, and Hugo thought it was one of the best sounds he had ever heard. Then he wanted to slap himself for being so sappy. Whatever his mom liked to think, he was nowhere near as helpless as she was. Plus, it's not that he couldn't work up the nerve to ask Isabelle out, it was just that he didn't want to accidentally ruin their friendship if she said no or if something happened between them later.

"Hugo?" her voice pulled him back from his thoughts.

"Huh?"

"I asked how your day was yesterday," she said before giggling again. "Maybe you need to take a day off to sleep, too."

"Oh, sorry," he chuckled nervously. "I'm just tired because I was up kind of late last night, that's all. Yesterday was okay, I guess, maybe a little stressful."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Oh, no. It's not that important," Hugo shook his head. "My parents just asked me to do something for them. No big deal."

 _Understatement of the century,_ he mentally sighed.

"Well that's good then!" Isabelle leaned to pull her phone out of her purse, "I know what'll cheer you up. Charles sent this to the class last night, did you see it?" She passed Hugo her phone with a picture pulled up.

"What's this?" he feigned ignorance.

"There's a new Ladybug and Chat Noir!" Isabelle bounced excitedly. "This leaves so many questions now! What happened to the old ones? Who are these two? It's so exciting!"

"U-uh, I guess?" Hugo tried to play along, but it wasn't very convincing. Isabelle didn't seem phased.

"Let me guess, you're one of the guys that has been fawning over Ladybug all morning, and you're just trying to hide it from me?"

Hugo resisted the urge to throw up, "No." He painfully managed to croak out, "she's, uh, not my type?"

"Well what is your type then?" she smirked.

"You," he replied without thinking. He backtracked almost immediately, "I-I mean blue. Not blue. I, uh, I don't like blue eyes. Or blondes."

"Suit yourself," Isabelle laughed. " _I_ think she's really pretty, and don't even get me started on Chat Noir."

"Chat…Noir?"

"Yeah, I wouldn't mind being saved by him. You can tell he's fit, and that leather _definitely_ suits him."

Hugo couldn't hide his blush. The girl he was hopelessly crushing on had just said she found him attractive, even if she didn't know it was him. It was a confidence boost and embarrassing all at the same time.

Isabelle giggled at his expression, "I'm sorry, Hugo, was that too much?"

"No," Hugo replied a little too quickly. "Uh, why don't we get to class?"

Just as he pointed to the front door of the school, screams were heard not even a block away.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I just google "common french last names" and then randomly pick one for Charles? Yes. Have I picked one for Isabelle? Not yet. I thought about making either her or Charles related to Alya/Nino, but eventually decided against it.


	7. Le Roi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The twins face their first akuma.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate writing akuma attacks so much. I can't help but feel like I make them sound really boring. Here's a fairly long chapter and 2 updates in a row to make up for my last disappearance (and because I'll probably disappear again).

Hawkmoth figured the new Ladybug and Chat Noir would be around collège-age, similar to the previous incarnations. Not having any other lead, he decided to start off at the school that had been a lead in the past. If Ladybug and Chat Noir got to the scene in less than five minutes, he would continue to pursue that lead. If not, he would move on to the next school.

The akuma was a simple one. A man had become upset at work after being told that he had to do what a superior told him, no questions asked. He more than welcomed the power to become the person with the most authority in the land.

* * *

"What was that?" Isabelle asked once the screaming had subsided. The entire courtyard froze at the sound and everyone was looking at each other in panic.

Hugo met Emma's eye and she discreetly nodded her head in the direction of the sound. He understood what she meant, but it didn't mean he was happy about it. They didn't even know how to use their weapons yet!

Isabelle had put herself under his arm in her panic, like an involuntary need for him to protect her. Unfortunately for him, he needed to get away from her as soon as possible so he could _actually_ protect her.

Emma was having the same issue with Charles. He had placed his arm around her shoulders and tensed like he was prepared to run and take her with him. Emma just rolled her eyes; she could handle herself.

"Go inside," she told him as she took his arm off of her. Her tone was gentle, but Hugo caught the annoyance that was under the surface. "I'm going to go make sure that there's no one in the garden area before I come, too."

"That's not a good idea, Emma. Let's just go." Emma wasn't listening, however, and had already started running around the corner. Hugo tried a similar tactic, but Isabelle was already pulling him in the doors.

"We have to hide," she instructed. "If the superheroes are back, then the supervillain is too."

Hugo appreciated her sense of self-preservation, but that didn't really help him in this particular situation. "Hey, Isa? I really have to go to the restroom. I'll meet you in the classroom, okay?"

Isabelle didn't look convinced, but Hugo pretended to do a little dance and she eventually released him. He ran off as fast as he could, Plagg flying out of his pocket mid-run.

"Okay, kid. You ready?"

"I mean I was hoping I'd have more time to—"

"I meant do you have cheese ready for me after all this is over?"

Hugo rolled his eyes at the kwamis antics, "Yes, Plagg. _Transforme-moi!_ "

Ladybug was already on the nearest rooftop by time he got there. They knew they had to do something, but without any experience, they both wanted to have a plan before they jumped in.

"So what are we looking at?" he asked.

"He keeps yelling, 'I am _Le Roi!'_ and when he points that scepter thing at them, they do what he says."

"Mind control?"

"Yep."

"Where do you think the akuma is?"

"I wanted to say in the crown or in the scepter, but I think it had to be something that he had before he transformed."

Chat Noir looked closely at the akuma. Some of the items were obviously part of the costume: the scepter, the cape, the crown, and the vaguely butterfly-shaped mask covering his eyes. Under the cape was a fairly simple suit, with a shiny purple lapel pin.

"I think it's in that lapel pin," he guessed. "It's the same color as his mask."

Ladybug nodded, "Good eye. Now let's go get it."

The two leaped off the building and landed just behind _Le Roi_. The akuma noticed them almost immediately, and they barely managed to avoid being hit by one of the beams.

"Give me your Miraculous!" he shouted at them. Ladybug hesitated and glanced at Chat before turning back to the akuma.

"Why?" she asked. The villains trying to steal their jewelry was not something that the kwamis had briefed them on the night before.

 _Le Roi_ looked surprised at her question. Did he even know why he was attacking? Ladybug didn't think so. The glowing outline appeared on his face, and after a second he replied:

"I am _Le Roi_ and you will do what I say! Give me your Miraculous!"

"But what's your _motivation_?" Ladybug grumbled as he shot another mind control beam at her. She managed to avoid it, but she had no offensive strategy. Ladybug thought maybe if she kept arguing with him and avoiding his attacks, Chat Noir would be able to come up with something.

Chat Noir had no idea how to use his baton other than as a pole-vault, so fighting was going to be quite difficult. It looked like Ladybug was struggling with her yo-yo, too. She seemed to have the hang of using it to get around the city, but it looked like she lacked the throwing strength to do any damage with it offensively.

Chat noticed that the akuma could not control people unless he gave them a direct order. Using that knowledge to his benefit, he started to get people out of the way while Ladybug argued with the akuma. Those that had been hit were actually the easiest because without _Le Roi_ directing them, they were taking orders from anybody.

They managed to get all the people out of the area, even those that had been struck to do _Le Roi_ 's wishes. With everyone gone and the mind-controlled soldiers too far away to be affected, Ladybug focused on trying to come up with a way to get the tiny lapel pin off without being struck herself.

"This is getting nowhere. Whatever," Ladybug sighed. "Lucky Charm!"

A flash of light later, and there was an extendable grabbing toy in her hand. "Okay, I guess I get where this is going. We need to get the scepter away first, Chat!"

He had thought of a way to get the scepter out of the akuma's hand, but none of them seem possible with his short range weapon, especially when he didn't have a clue how to use it.

"Hey, Ladybug?" he yelled, not taking his eyes off the akuma.

"Yeah?"

"Can we switch weapons, just for a second?"

Ladybug gave him a confused look, but eventually shrugged and tossed her yo-yo to him. In return, he tossed the baton to her.

Now armed with Ladybug's yo-yo, Chat Noir weighed it in his hand while he tried to figure out how hard it needed to be thrown to accomplish what he wanted.

Ladybug had taken the baton and immediately fallen into what seemed like an _en garde_ position with the grabber in the hand behind her. She knew it wasn't the proper way to use the weapon, but it was better than nothing if the akuma tried to attack.

 _Le Roi_ looked confused at their sudden weapons switch, and the butterfly symbol glowed in front of his face in response. Whatever Hawkmoth said to him must have been urgent, however, as he immediately tried to attack Chat Noir.

Ladybug distracted him by yelling, " _Le Roi_? More like _le roi des cons_!" It seemed to prove just insulting enough to make his attention snap towards her, allowing Chat Noir enough time to wrap the yo-yo around the scepter and pull it away. It snapped as he smashed it into the ground.

Now that the immediate danger had been removed, the two heroes switched back weapons, because it was ultimately up to Ladybug to capture and purify the akuma.

"Okay, Chat Noir. Now we need to get the cape out of the way," Ladybug muttered to him. He nodded immediately, knowing exactly what to do, and ran towards _Le Roi_.

Now weaponless, the akuma wasn't sure what he was going to do. Chat Noir suddenly barreling towards him certainly didn't help.

"Cataclysm!" Chat yelled, and as soon as the dark energy enveloped his hand, he grabbed the cape.

It dissolved almost immediately, leaving the suit—and more importantly the pin—exposed. Ladybug wasted no time swooping in and grabbing it with the toy, crushing it between the claws.

She opened the yo-yo and caught the purple butterfly before it could get away. Once it was purified, she watched as the now-white creature flew away.

"Is that it?" she said to Chat.

"I think you have to do something with that," he pointed at the toy, "to put everything back to normal."

"Right, right." Emma picked it up and tossed it into the air with a cry of, "Miraculous Ladybug!"

The bright light and magical ladybugs flew all around the city, putting the little damage that had been done back to normal. Once it was all over and they had seen the victim off, Ladybug had two spots left, while Chat had three.

"We better get going before someone notices," Ladybug said. She looked around and saw that they had been pushed back to right in front of the school; a very convenient place.

Just as they were about to split up to go change back, Charles ran up to them. The two just stood, surprised, as he bent over with his hands on his knees to catch his breath.

"I'm Charles," he introduced quickly. "I know you guys have to go, but did you see my friend Emma? Blonde, kind of short, blue eyes, really stubborn? She ran off and I can't find her. You didn't see her get attacked, right?"

"We saw her run off to safety," Chat Noir replied quickly. "I would check that way." He pointed toward the school in the opposite direction than Emma had gone, but Charles seemed to buy it.

"Thanks!" he exclaimed before running off again.

"You better go," Chat said to Ladybug once he was out of earshot.

"Honestly, it's like he doesn't think I can handle myself," Ladybug rolled her eyes. She ran off behind a tree, and moments later Chat saw Emma running off towards Charles.

Chat figured he need to get out, too. Ducking behind a pillar after checking that the coast was clear, he dropped his transformation, handed Plagg a slice of cheese, and ran back inside.

* * *

 Emma caught up with Charles quickly. While they were both athletic due to being on the fencing team, he didn't enjoy running nearly as much as she did. His slowness worked to her benefit.

"Charles!" she called when he came into view. "There you are; I was looking for you!"

Charles turned and gave her an exasperated look. His unruly hair was now covering his left eye, and there was a small bit of sweat glistening on his forehead, but it didn't look like he had been caught up in the attack. There was also grass stains on his knees, which meant he probably tripped, but otherwise he looked fine, if not a bit annoyed.

"You were looking for me?" he asked. "You said you were going to meet me inside, and after a while I got worried you weren't going to show up, so I came looking for you. I thought you had been attacked by that _thing_."

"Sorry for scaring you," she resisted the urge to roll her eyes. They had been friends for years, but recently he started acting like she was a glass figurine that needed to be constantly guarded. "When they started fighting right in front of the school, I figured it would be best not to go into sight. I can handle myself, you know."

"Even you can't go head to head with a powered maniac, Emma. You need to at least see that," he fired at her.

"And what, you could? What were you going to do if you got hurt in the attack trying to help me?" She shot back.

Charles rolled his eyes, "Whatever, Em. I'm just glad you're safe."

He pulled her into a hug before he quickly realized what he was doing and released her. 

"Sorry for smothering you, that akuma just scared me a little. I'm not used to that whole 'villains in the middle of the city' thing, but I guess we better start getting used to it, huh? The last Hawkmoth was around for _years_ before they found out who he was."

"Yeah," Emma sighed. "Unless Ladybug and Chat Noir can find Hawkmoth and stop him quickly."

"Do you think he might be related to the last one?" Charles asked.

"What?" Emma asked. She hadn't even considered that, but it may be a good lead. If she and Hugo were related to the last Ladybug and Chat Noir, then maybe Hawkmoth worked the same. If only she knew who the last Hawkmoth had been.

"Well, I just met Chat Noir. If he's not the son of the last Ladybug and Chat Noir, then he has to be related to at least one of them. The resemblance was kind of uncanny, and not that many people have green eyes. Maybe this Hawkmoth guy is the same; the son of the last one."

"You met Chat Noir?" Emma asked. She wanted to steer away from the last topic of conversation until she could talk to either Hugo or Tikki first.

It seemed to work. Charles stood up straighter and replied, "Yes! And Ladybug, too! They seemed really cool."

"Oh yeah?" Emma giggled. "Did you manage to hold yourself together in front of 'the brave and beautiful' Ladybug?"

Charles rolled his eyes at her use of his words against him, but chuckled. "Of course. I was too busy trying to find you, anyways."

"Well sorry I ruined your chances in getting her number," Emma teased before thinking _you already have it, anyways_. While she didn't really like the idea of him crushing on Ladybug, she was having fun with this secret identity thing. It looked like Charles was beginning to regret telling her what he thought about Ladybug, but it didn't stop him from smiling along with her.

"Well there's always next time," he attempted to tease back. "Now, they gave us until lunch off because of the attack, so maybe a resident supervillain won't be so bad. I was going to your grandparents' bakery for some breakfast, do you want to come?"

"Of course!" Emma exclaimed. "Although I assume you just want me to come so you can take advantage of my family discount, huh?"

"You know me so well," he smiled. Tossing his arm around her shoulders again, he pulled her in the direction of the old bakery. She just laughed at his ridiculousness, but went along with it.

With the bakery just across from the school, it wasn't long before they were walking through the front door of the bakery. The bell dinged as they were greeted by the scent of fresh pastries and cakes, and it wasn't long before Sabine appeared from the kitchen doorway.

"Emma! Charles! How lovely to see you," Sabine greeted. She rounded the corner to hug her granddaughter and properly greet the young man that was often with her. "I knew Hugo was stopping by later to help me with something, but it's a surprise to see you! Why aren't you in class?"

"Nice to see you to, _mamie_ ," Emma smiled. "We just came for some breakfast."

"School is out until lunch because of the akuma attack that just happened," Charles answered. "Did you not hear it, Mrs. Cheng?"

"Oh call me Sabine, dear. I've told you for years," she smiled. "And no, I was in the back helping Tom. We had the mixers on."

"First attack in over fifteen years," Charles confirmed. "I even met the new Ladybug and Chat Noir!"

"New ones?" Sabine asked. Emma knew that her grandmother knew exactly what was going on, and had to admit she was a very good actress.

Not wanting to listen to the same conversation again, Emma interrupted, "Is _Papi_ busy? I want to go say hi."

"I don't think so," Sabine replied. "He's in the kitchen, just head on back."

Emma nodded, and as she walked away, she heard Sabine ask Charles what pastry he wanted, on the house of course.

She pushed through the back door into the kitchen to see her grandfather frosting some cupcakes. The bakery was still mildly successful and fully operational, despite her grandparents being in their late sixties, and was a popular place for the school kids to come for lunch and after school.

Emma and Hugo came to help out sometimes, as well.

"Hey, _Papi_ ," Emma greeted.

"Emma!" he exclaimed, putting down the frosting to come give her a hug. Emma always compared it to trying to hug a brick wall. "Are you okay? We heard the attack."

"I'm fine," she reassured. "Hugo is fine too, but you can ask him for more details when he comes over later. I just wanted to say hello and see if you needed any help this week before Charles and I head to the park."

"I'm fine, dear." He smiled, "Charles, eh? You two seem to spend an awful amount of time together these days."

" _Papi,_ _please_ ," she whined. "He's just my best friend. If you want to tease anyone, tease Hugo about Isabelle."

"Oh I plan on it," he laughed. "She came by yesterday, and I resisted dropping some hints to her for the poor boy."

Emma laughed along with him, giving him one last hug before heading back towards the door. "Well, I better get going before our free break ends. See you later!"

"Don't be a stranger, dear!" he called after her retreating form.

Back in the main area, Emma watched as Charles thanked her grandmother for the pastries before accepting her own. Sabine also slipped Emma a small bag of cookies with a wink, which she immediately put in her backpack for Tikki.

With a final wave, her and Charles made their way towards the park, where the citizens of Paris showed no signs that an attack had happened less than an hour ago.

 _Being Ladybug isn't so bad,_ she thought as they walked past the statue of her parents.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So unless they are together, one chapter will probably focus on Emma, then the next on Hugo and just back and forth like that. My goal here in this story is to parallel Marinette and Adrien's storyline, but subtly. In this chapter I tried to have Emma and Charles parallel Marichat (like how it's portrayed on the show), with the flirty, teasing friendship.
> 
> Some French use notes: "le roi des cons" roughly translates to something along the lines of "the biggest idiot" and is, obviously, an insult. Mamie and Papi are just informal words for grandma and grandpa.


	8. "Papi"llon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lots of thing are discussed.   
> Please appreciate the chapter title pun because I'm very proud.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is pretty dialogue-heavy, but it was the best way for this massive information dump. Sorry if you aren't into that. Also, I'm having nerve issues with my arms (which makes it very hard to type; sorry for any mistakes) so this might be the only update for a while, unless I can get to a doctor. Luckily, this is the longest chapter I've ever written so far, and hopefully it'll tide you guys over. :)

In his lair across town, Hawkmoth was pleased. Sure, his first akuma had been easily defeated, but that was the point. The akuma had served its purpose in confirming that the new Ladybug and Chat Noir were most likely students at the same collège as their predecessors.

Now all he had to do was narrow down the possibilities and he would achieve ultimate power.

* * *

Hugo found Isabelle almost immediately, as she was sitting against the wall next to the bathroom he was _supposed_ to be in at the moment. He considered running back and trying to climb in the window so she wouldn't be suspicious, but that plan was shot down when she spotted him.

"Hugo!" she called, a mix of relief and annoyance in her voice. "Where did you go? You said you were going to meet me in the classroom, and I was two minutes away from barging into the boys' bathroom to look for you!"

Hugo knew he had to think fast, and remembering his encounter with Charles at Chat Noir replied, "I'm so sorry, I was on my way there, but then I ran into Charles. He said he couldn't find Emma anywhere, and I went with him to find her and make sure she was okay."

It was a perfect lie, and it definitely worked. Any trace of annoyance left her face and was replaced by worry, "Oh my gosh, she wasn't hurt, was she?"

Hugo shook his head, "No, no, no. Charles found her, and she's fine. Plus, everything that happened was fixed by Ladybug, anyways."

Isabelle relaxed. "Good. Wait, did you see Ladybug and Chat Noir?"

"Uh, yeah, but only from a distance. They seem cool."

She must've been satisfied with that reply, and she grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the exit. It caught him completely off-guard, and he was waiting for the minute she noticed how sweaty his hand had gotten and dropped it.

"W-where are we going?"

"There's no class until after lunch because of the attack," she replied without turning around. "Is your mom home? I want to ask her about a dress I'm working on for a party my dad is dragging me to."

Hugo knew her father was some sort of government official or ambassador, as well as being a single parent, which meant Isabelle was often dragged around to official events. Most of the time she didn't seem to mind, but Hugo knew she hated having any attention focused on her.

Like any Parisian teen, Isabelle was one to personalize the clothes she purchased, and Marinette had become her preferred mentor. Even though his mother was a costume designer and not one to work on high fashion, Isabelle insisted she had the perfect eye for color and creativity.

As long as his mom didn't tease him, he didn't mind when Isabelle came over.

"I think she is working in the studio today, yeah. Do you want to go talk to her? We could hang out there until classes start again."

"Are you sure?" Isabelle asked. "It's just a simple question, really, and I don't want to bother her if she's working. And if you'd rather do something else I wouldn't mind; I don't want to intrude."

Hugo chuckled, "Don't worry, Is. My mother loves giving you advice, and I'm sure she won't mind a little company today."

This was her first day without Tikki, after all.

It only took a few minutes for the two of them to reach his house. Hugo figured it would be best to go through the shop, so he held the door for Isabelle as the bell sounded to alert that someone had entered.

"Just a minute!" a voice came from the back.

"It's just me, _Maman!_ " Hugo called back. There was a small crashing noise from the back, and within seconds Marinette was leaning in the doorframe.

"Hugo! Isabelle! What are you two doing here?"

"There was an akuma attack, so school was cancelled until lunch," Isabelle supplied.

"Oh?" Marinette said. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes, Mom. Everything is fine. Ladybug fixed everything and no one was hurt."

Marinette seemed mostly satisfied with that answer, but asked, "And Emma? Where is she?"

"Her and Charles went somewhere," Hugo replied. "I'm not exactly sure where, but she's fine, too."

"Good. Now what can I help you two with?"

Isabelle smiled and pulled a notebook out of her backpack. "Actually, Mrs. Dupain-Cheng, I was wondering if I could ask you some questions about a dress I got for a gala at the Louvre."

"Sounds very fancy," Marinette replied. "I'll see what I can help you with. Hugo, why don't you go upstairs and bring down some snacks?"

"Uh, sure." He narrowed his eyes in suspicion, feeling that she was up to something, "I'll be right back."

Once he was out of sight, Marinette turned to Isabelle. Looking at the print out of the dress that the girl had brought, she began thinking of some ways that would make the dress more Isabelle.

"Tell me more about this event," she requested, getting up to find her colored pencils.

Isabelle sighed. "It's just some charity thing with my dad. I'm probably not even going to see him most of the night because he'll be too busy mingling with the other guests."

Marinette felt for the girl, recognizing the signs of sadness caused by an uninvolved parent. Isabelle clearly didn't enjoy these events, but constantly went to them to please her father. "So are you going to be all alone the whole night?"

"Probably," Isabelle mumbled. "So I was thinking about making my dress a little more sophisticated, but simple enough that it blends in with everyone. Between you and me, Mrs. DC, I don't really enjoy the attention of all the snotty rich people there; especially all the entitled trust fund babies that like to hit on me."

Marinette laughed, "Of course. Let's see what we can do." The two worked for a few moments, sketching different ideas on to the piece of paper and discussing alterations, but suddenly Marinette asked, "Are you allowed to bring someone else to the event?"

Isabelle thought about it. "I don't see why not; I think everyone gets a plus-one. I just don't know of anyone that would want to go with me, though."

Hugo chose that moment to come back into the room with a plate of cheese and crackers (probably at Plagg's request), just as Marinette had hoped. She watched as Isabelle's eyes flicked to Hugo and practically saw the gears turning in her head.

 _My work here is done_ , Marinette thought. She added a few more details to Isabelle's dress design when the girl wasn't looking, knowing that she'd thank her later.

Hugo noticed the smirk on his mom's face and the way Isabelle was looking at him like she was seeing him for the first time. He blushed at the thought of what his mother could have said to her.

"Did I miss something?" he managed to squeak out.

"No, dear." Marinette chuckled, "We were just figuring out the adjustments on Isabelle's dress." The front door bell rang at the end of her sentence, "Now if you would excuse me, I think the velvet I ordered is here. Isabelle, if you want to bring the dress by later I can do all the changes for you, free of charge."

"Thank you, Mrs. Dupain-Cheng!" Isabelle cheered, not taking her eyes off of Hugo. Marinette left the two teens alone in the room, with Isabelle still appraising Hugo.

"Something wrong?" he asked. She seemed to snap out whatever she was doing.

"Oh, no. Sorry, I was just thinking." She glanced down at the dress again. "Hey, Hugo?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you…" she paused. Hugo's mind screamed _DO I WHAT?_ before she started again. "Do you want to come to this gala with me?"

Hugo's mind stopped working. Did she just ask him on a date? To a fancy gala that was probably very restrictive about who could attend?

"W-what?"

Isabelle looked away from him to wring her fingers instead. "Well, I'm going to be alone the whole night, and your mom suggested I bring someone. It would be nice to have someone there that I know, and I was wondering if you wanted to come. You don't have to if you don't want to."

Hugo felt bad for her; how many of these events had she spent sitting at a table trying to keep unwanted attention off of her? Even if it _wasn't_ a date, he would do this for her as her friend.

"Sure, I'll come. It'll be fun."

Isabelle jumped and ran up to hug him, "Oh, Hugo, thank you so much!"

Hugo was frozen for a moment, before he remembered his arms and wrapped them around her. She pulled away after a few moments. "You're the best, Hugo. I'll give you the rest of the details at school tomorrow!"

* * *

The rest of the day passed by in a blur for Hugo after Isabelle's invitation. He barely remembered leaving his house to go back to school, completely forgot that he attended three classes, and only due to subconscious guiding was he able to make it to the bakery on time.

"Hello, Hugo!" Sabine greeted as soon as he stepped into the bakery. The sound of her voice helped to snap him out of his Isabelle-induced trance as he hugged her in greeting.

"Hi, _mamie._ So, what exactly are we doing today?"

Sabine smiled and led him to the main living area of the house. He looked around to see that all the furniture had been moved out of the way (and all the breakables hidden), leaving a large square area of space.

There was also a large platter of cheese sitting out, which, by time Hugo noticed, Plagg had halfway eaten.

"So…" Hugo started. "How is this going to work?"

"Well, I am going to show you some basic moves I learned when I was younger, nothing too complicated, and then your father is coming to tell you the rest. He should be here any minute."

Hugo nodded and sat his bag on the couch against the wall, "Where did you learn this stuff anyways, _mamie_?"

Sabine smiled, "I grew up in Shanghai before I came to Paris. Growing up, even if it is a relatively safe city, it was always a good idea to know a little self-defense."

"So do you know different kinds of martial arts?"

"Not really," she shrugged. "I was a shopkeeper for my parents, and I usually had a broom in my hand. I learned some bo staff techniques with the handle as my weapon of choice."

Hugo nodded, grateful that she remembered enough to volunteer to teach him. Especially since defending the citizens of Paris from monsters with superpowers was going to be a lot more difficult than defending a small shop from thieves.

"Did you ever have to use your broom-wielding skills?" he smiled.

Chuckling, Sabine replied, "Only once, but that's a story for another day."

Just then, the front door opened and in stepped Adrien, looking like he had just ran there from his university.

"Sorry I'm late," he huffed. "Class ran a bit late today."

"No worries, dear," Sabine smiled. "We were just about to get started."

* * *

Emma was excited that today was one of the rare days she didn't have any activities after school. The day had been an easy one, even with the akuma attack, but Emma was still looking forward to going home and taking a nice, long nap.

That plan, of course, was thrown right out the window when she walked in the front door. Her mother was standing there, looking excited, and smiling like she had just discovered the perfect new fabric.

"Uh, hey, Mom." Emma greeted, "What's up?"

"Are you ready to learn how to be Ladybug?"

Emma sighed. Actually, she was ready for a nap, but her mom looked so excited she knew she had to find the energy.

"Of course!" she replied. "What's first?"

To her relief, Marinette sat down on the couch and pointed to the chair across from her. Emma threw herself down in the chair, and watched as Tikki flew out of her backpack to hover by her mom's shoulder.

"Well," Marinette stated. "Why don't we start with the attack today? Tell me what you think you did right, and then what you feel needs work."

Emma thought about the battle, "Well, I think I did a pretty good job capturing and purifying the akuma."

Marinette nodded and motioned for her to continue.

"But, Hugo and I had to switch weapons at one point because I couldn't throw the yo-yo hard enough."

Marinette looked surprised at that, and glanced at Tikki to confirm that Emma wasn't joking. Emma just looked down at her hands and played with her fingers. Was her mom about to tell her that she couldn't be Ladybug anymore?

"That's easy enough to fix," Marinette smiled reassuringly. "The yo-yo is magic, and it will do whatever you want it to, for the most part, and go anywhere you need it to go."

"Well it sure didn't feel like it," Emma grumbled.

"The yo-yo is restricted by what you think," Marinette attempted to clarify. "So if you thought you wouldn't be able to throw it far enough, it's not going to go far enough."

"So it's linked to my thoughts?"

"In a way, yes. Also your subconscious; so even if you weren't thinking about it in the moment, the yo-yo still responded."

Emma nodded. "So how do I fix it?"

"Just trust yourself," Marinette smiled. "If you trust in yourself and your capabilities, then you will be a very successful Ladybug."

"That sounds easier said than done," Emma muttered.

"But you're already doing so good!" Marinette cheered. "Let me tell you about my first day of being Ladybug…"

* * *

Hugo was exhausted by time his training was finished, but luckily his father and grandmother said that one session would be enough. Now, he just had to practice some of the basic moves on his own (and on akumas), and consider what his father had told him about the magic behind the suit and what the duty requires.

Even Plagg was tired, having to transform Hugo in order to practice. Adrien had to go back to work for a faculty meeting, so Hugo was left to walk home in silence with his thoughts.

He couldn't help the nagging feeling that he wasn't meant to be Chat Noir, but told himself that it was just his insecurities talking. His dad had assured him that the role will grow on him, but if he ever felt too pressured that he would rather see him give the power up than be destroyed by it.

Hugo also wasn't looking forward to an aura of bad luck around him. But, he figured, it couldn't be too extreme, as today had been the day he was asked out by Isabelle. He smiled at the thought.

He was still smiling when he walked through the front door; it didn't go unnoticed by Emma, who was collapsed on the couch.

"What's got you so happy?" she asked.

Hugo tossed his bag on the counter and went to lay down on the couch across from her. "Isabelle asked me to go to the Louvre gala with her."

" _Vraiment?"_ Emma asked, sitting up. "Please tell me you didn't mess up and turn her down."

"Would I be smiling if that was the case? Have a little faith in me, Emma."

"Hugo!" she cheered. "I'm so proud of you!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," He rolled his eyes. "Unfortunately I don't think she thinks it's a _date_ date."

Emma slouched back onto the couch. "Well you better make a move before someone else does."

"Like who?"

"Like me," Emma retorted. "Maybe I'll make a move before you get the chance."

"Yeah, right," he rolled his eyes.

"Maybe I would," she smirked at him before throwing her head back. She stared at the ceiling, "Apparently everyone has a crush on Ladybug, even Charles. Who says Isabelle would be any different?"

Hugo repositioned himself to mimic a therapist, which worked perfect with how Emma was resting, "And how does that make you feel?"

"In general or just about Charles?"

"Both."

"I don't know," she sighed. "It's weird, but also kind of…flattering? As long as no one is creepy about it, I guess I don't mind."

"And Charles?"

"He can have his little celebrity crush, too. As long as he doesn't realize it's me."

She seemed a little defensive to Hugo, which made him wonder if there was something else there that she wasn't telling him.

"Do you like him?"

Emma laughed. "I don't think I've ever liked anyone. I wouldn't even know what that feels like."

"If he did like you," Hugo pressed. "What would you do?"

Emma stared straight at ceiling, her eyes lost focus as she was clearly putting serious thought into the question. "I don't know," she finally replied. "Even if I thought I did like him, I wouldn't want to jeopardize our friendship either way. I don't even think we even _could_ be like that. It'd be too weird; not at all like you and Isabelle."

"I see," Hugo nodded. "So I guess _papi_ should stop teasing you about it?"

"It'd be nice," she laughed. "What about you?"

"What about me?" he repeated, not sure what she was referring to.

"Chat Noir was the talk of the girls' locker room today. How does that make you feel?"

"Honestly? I don't really care. Chat Noir and Hugo Dupain-Cheng are two completely different people, anyways."

"You don't really believe that, do you? You're still you, with or without the mask."

"We'll see," he replied. "I just mean that they don't _know_ it's me behind the mask, so it's easy to separate myself from the attention."

"Ah," Emma nodded. "So even if Isabelle said something-?"

"She already did," he smiled. "She said I looked fit."

"So you aren't separating yourself from _her_ attention," Emma grinned. "I thought as much."

Hugo just shrugged, "Whatever, Em. I'm a complicated person."

"Sure you are, Hugo."

* * *

The two decided to relax for awhile after their conversation. Hugo was reading articles online about staff fighting and proper etiquette in high society, trying to make sense of it all, while it looked like Emma was asleep on the couch. That is until she sat up and asked, "Where's Dad? Did he train with you?"

Hugo looked up from his laptop screen, "For a bit yeah, but he had to go back to work. Something about a staff meeting?"

Emma nodded, "Good. I think Mom went back downstairs to work on a dress or something for someone before you got here. I just remembered I had something I needed to talk to you about."

"What?" he asked.

"Hold on, can we talk in your room?"

"Why?"

"I just want to run the idea by you before Mom and Dad hear. I don't want to take my chances either with them overhearing," she replied. "And we both know my room is a disaster, so yours would be better."

Hugo just nodded in reply and stood up, "Let's go, then."

"Tikki?" Emma called. "Plagg?"

Both kwamis came out of the kitchen, where they were most likely snacking. Plagg looked a bit reluctant, but still asked, "What is it kid?"

"Can we talk to you guys upstairs?"

Both kwamis nodded before the four made their way to Hugo's room. Emma threw herself down on his bed, really starting to wish she hadn't skipped that nap, and Hugo decided the desk chair might be better.

"So what's the matter, Emma?" Tikki asked.

"Well, Charles mentioned something to me today and I just wanted to bounce the thought off of you guys."

"Get to the point, kid." Plagg grumbled.

"Aren't you quite the impatient one," Emma retorted. "Anyways, other than the fact that he came incredibly close to figuring out Hugo's identity after just one day-"

"What?" Hugo gasped.

"Not important," Emma brushed off. "He said if Chat Noir is related to the last Chat Noir, could Hawkmoth be related to the last one?"

Plagg and Tikki shared a glance, which Emma caught.

"What?" she asked.

"The butterfly miraculous does not work the same way as the ladybug and black cat, meaning it is not tied to familial lines," Tikki replied carefully.

"But do you know that for sure? Who was the last Hawkmoth?"

"I don't think you guys want to know," Tikki sighed.

"Why not?" Emma asked. "Are you not allowed to tell us? Should we ask Mom and Dad? What if it could be a lead?"

"Don't ask your Dad!" Tikki burst out, before quickly covering her mouth.

"Why _not_?"

"Tikki," Plagg interrupted, sounding more serious than Hugo had seen so far. "We might as well just tell them. Adrien doesn't need to think about it again, and I don't think Marinette would say anything. They're just going to keep asking us."

"Fine," Tikki sighed. "Does the name Gabriel Agreste mean anything to you?"

Emma looked at Hugo, confused. When he shrugged in reply, she tried to think of where she had heard that name before. "I think the surname is familiar," she replied. "But I'm not sure why."

"I figured that might be the case," Tikki nodded. "I'm going to let Plagg explain this one; he's more knowledgeable on the subject." With that, she flew out of the room, either to go back downstairs or to Emma's room.

"Okay, Plagg." Hugo prompted once she was gone. "So who is that?"

Plagg narrowed his eyes, for once trying to carefully think of an answer. It was a delicate subject that he hadn't had to relive for a long time, and he knew because of the nature he'd have to use the correct words. Even now, he was still mad at the man, but he didn't want to worry the kids, especially since they had never heard about the man before. Bluntness would not be practical here.

"Do you remember that one time the brown-haired girl accidentally found Adrien's old modelling pictures?"

"Who, Isabelle?" Hugo asked. At the same time, Emma replied, "Yes." Hugo decided to let her continue, "We all had a good laugh about it, even Dad once we showed him. What does that have to do with anything?"

"That's where you recognize the name from, kid."

"Oh yeah!" Hugo exclaimed. He vaguely remembered a name at the bottom of the photos and a brand that had been on one of the sweaters. "I remember now! He was like a fashion designer, right? That was the brand in the advertisements we saw."

"Okay," Emma asked. "So what does Dad's old boss have to do with this?"

Plagg ignored her question and continued. "Your mother was obsessed with his designs, especially after she won a contest in school. However, once she started dating Adrien, and seeing how he was being treated by Gabriel, she stopped admiring him. In the end, working at his company for a little while is eventually what drove her away from high fashion all together."

"If he treated Dad so badly, why didn't he just quit?"

Plagg rolled his eyes; this is why he always preferred to just state things bluntly. "What is your last name?" he suddenly asked, once again ignoring her question.

"Dupain-Cheng," Hugo replied. "You know that."

"And your mother's?"

"The same, obviously."

"I meant her maiden name," Plagg corrected. "You know, the name she had before she got married? Your grandparents' last name?"

Emma and Hugo were both embarrassed to admit that they had never actually put any thought into their names.

"It's still Dupain-Cheng," Hugo mumbled. " _Mamie_ is Sabine Cheng and _papi_ is Tom Dupain."

"So what have we learned?" Plagg asked, sarcasm dripping from his voice. He really wanted them to make this connection for themselves.

"Dad has Mom's last name," Emma said. "We never even thought about it, but of course we knew that."

"Mom started her career long before Dad, though. It's common then for women to either keep their last names or hyphenate them. It makes sense; it'd be kind of hard to hyphenate an already hyphenated name."

"Okay," Plagg said. "Even if that was the case, you still aren't getting what I'm trying to say. I've given you enough time to think about it, and I'm getting bored. Let's be more direct: do you know who Adrien Agreste is?"

"No?" Emma replied immediately. "Should we?"

"Kid. Really. Help a kwami out here," he directed at Hugo. Everything that he had said to them was swimming around Hugo's head: design company, Agreste, poor treatment. Sure, their father was named Adrien, but it wasn't that uncommon of a name, right? Then he factored in the conversation about last names, and it all clicked. The information _wasn't_ all unrelated.

"Oh thank goodness," Plagg mumbled when he saw the realization on Hugo's face.

"Dad is Adrien Agreste," Hugo replied. "Or at least he was. That's why he couldn't quit his modeling job; he was working for his dad. He took Mom's last name when they got married."

"So Gabriel Agreste was a jerk? Is that why we never even heard about him? Honestly, I thought Dad might have been an orphan, but I was too scared to ask. We always seen Mom's parents, but he's never even mentioned his; I didn't want to offend him by asking."

"That's probably a good thing," Plagg nodded, remembering how sad Adrien had been in the past when they first met. Not on the outside, of course, but it was easy to catch. If the children had suddenly decided to ask about his parents, he might not have handled it very well. He knew he would have to explain it, all of it, to the children so that Adrien wouldn't have to. Plagg deserved a whole wheel of camembert for this.

"Adrien's mother disappeared," he explained. "No one knows where she went, even to this day, but there were some theories. She is the one who left the ring for him."

"So she was Chat Noir?" Emma asked, trying to follow.

"No," Plagg replied. "She held on to it until Adrien was old enough because of certain...circumstances. But, that's a story for another day; my point is, both your dad and his father were obviously very torn up about her disappearance. Some people handle things better than others, and Gabriel's way was locking Adrien up in the house without letting him go anywhere."

"That's awful," Emma remarked.

"Yeah," Plagg sighed. "He had always been homeschooled, but the seclusion became even more drastic after she left. If I hadn't shown up, the kid might still be there in that house."

"So what happened? I mean I'm glad to learn more about Dad, but what makes the backstory significant?" Hugo asked.

"Once I showed up, Adrien started becoming more independent. He convinced his father to let him go to school, the same one you go to now, where he met his friends and started to see what a normal teenager was like. He kept arguing with his father over his freedoms as the years went on, especially after finding out Marinette was Ladybug. Then, at 18, Gabriel kicked him out."

Hugo looked down at the ring on his finger. His father was the nicest person anyone had ever met; he didn't deserve that childhood.

"He was happy then, though," Plagg continued. "He moved in with Marinette and didn't have to model anymore., and Sabine and Tom practically adopted him. He was able to get his degree in a field he wanted and blah blah blah. I thought we were done dealing with Gabriel all together, until about three days after the nerd finally proposed to Marinette."

Emma realized she had sat up and was leaning on the edge of the bed, hanging on to every word and eagerly waiting to see where this story was going. Then it hit her; the whole reason for this conversation in the first place. "Oh no," she gasped. She _knew_ where this story was going, or at least she had a good guess.

"What?" Hugo asked, confused by her outburst.

"He was the last Hawkmoth, wasn't he? Gabriel Agreste?"

Plagg slumped. "Yes. There was a particularly nasty akuma one night, and it managed to capture both of them. I was worried that Hawkmoth might have won, because Adrien had been knocked out; we can sense what is going on while transformed. During that final battle, all of their identities were revealed, and Gabriel almost killed Marinette in the process. When Adrien ripped Gabriel's Miraculous off, he revealed that he had been trying to turn Adrien into the perfect akuma for _years,_ and that was why he treated him so poorly. Akumas feed of negative emotions like anger, sadness, and jealousy."

"But _why?"_ Emma asked. "How could someone do something like that to their own son?"

"Grief is a powerful motivator, kid. One can easily be blinded by it," Plagg sighed. "As is a lust for power. Combined, they can destroy a person."

"What power?" Hugo asked.

"If my and Tikki's miraculous are combined, it grants the wielder near absolute power. Very _very dangerous_ power, especially in the wrong hands. Gabriel was willing to do anything to bring Adele back, even if she didn't want to come back."

 _So that's where the middle name came from,_ Emma thought. "So what happened to him afterwards?"

"He was taken away; first to jail, then a psychiatric facility." Plagg explained, "Make no mistake, even if everything is fixed after a battle, Hawkmoth is still considered a serious criminal in the city. In the end, Marinette broke the Miraculous, but the kwami, Nooroo, got away. He is not intended to be evil, none of us are, so it was probably out of fear. Unfortunately, his escape made it possible for him to be corrupted again, and in her concern for your father Marinette left the Miraculous where she had broken it. That's how Hawkmoth, the new one, was able to return."

The twins nodded, trying to take in all the information.

"Well that crushes Charles' theory, then." Hugo said, "There is no way that Dad is Hawkmoth."

"You're right about that much, kid."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I could've split this chapter off in the middle, but I knew it would be the last one for a while so I didn't. I hope it didn't seem to skippy. Also, I noticed some inconsistencies here between this and the epilogue of Only Time (Travel) Will Tell. Mainly, in the epilogue, Isabelle was clueless about all the akuma stuff, but after writing this I don't think that would be possible (especially with what I had planned for the future). I might rewrite that epilogue, or just accept that it's not entirely accurate.
> 
> Other things related to this story: According to what I've seen on Tumblr, Marinette is going to visit her grandmother in Shanghai in one of the specials, so I played with that here. Isabelle's dad works for the government because I watched The French Minister (Quai d'Orsay) while writing this, and we will find out her last name soon. There will probably be a time skip sometime soon, as I had them with their Miraculous for a year in OTTWT and I want to have this lead up to that.
> 
> As always, I appreciate your reviews, and feel free to come talk to me on tumblr @cataclys-me


	9. Q&A

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some conversations that seem like filler now but may or may not be important later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand I'm back with a much shorter chapter than the last one. It's also unedited, so I apologize in advance if there's any mistakes.

Emma and Hugo tried their best to act normal after discovering the truth about their grandfather, and for the most part they were successful.

Before dinner, Emma greeted Adrien with a longer hug than usual, but if he found anything odd about it, his smile didn't give it away. At dinner, they kept idle chit-chat, with Marinette already having ideas on what Hugo should wear to the Louvre, and Adrien trying to give "girl advice" (he was shut down when Marinette reminded him that puns are _not_ an effective flirting strategy).

After clearing the table, Hugo had retreated to his room to do more research on Gabriel Agreste, hoping to find anything that may be able to help them with the new Hawkmoth. After hours of searching, he didn't have much information at all. The man must've been very good at keeping things private. Hugo had found the archives of the _Ladyblog_ , however, and bookmarked the page to show Emma later. They would definitely tease Aunt Alya about it next time she visited.

He only stopped his research when he saw that it was 3 AM. _Merde,_ he thought as he scrambled into bed for just a few hours of sleep.

And so, for the second day in a row, Hugo walked into school looking like a zombie. He barely made it to class before the bell, opting out of leaving the house that morning with Emma for a few more minutes of sleep, and then managed to sleep in almost every class until the midday break.

"No sleep again, Hugo?" Isabelle teased at lunch. "What were you doing this time?"

"Research," he mumbled in reply.

"On?"

"Ladybug and Chat Noir."

" _Ouais_?" Isabelle sounded surprised. "Suddenly a fan?"

"Just curious," he replied as he picked at his sandwich.

Isabelle nodded, and reached to pull something out of her purse. "So, about the Louvre gala…"

That seemed to do the trick in waking Hugo up, and there was no way Isabelle missed how he sat up straighter in his chair. He didn't want to admit that he had forgotten all about it until she mentioned it. Isabelle just giggled at his antics as she handed him the ticket.

"This is to get in, and it has all the information on it," she pointed to the date and time on the paper. "It's this Saturday. I hope that's not too big of a deal? It's not much notice…"

"No it's fine. I already have formalwear from my last violin recital," Hugo reassured her.

"Great! Well, my dad wants me to arrive with him, but could you meet me outside by the pyramid once I get there? That way we can go in together."

"N-no problem," Hugo stuttered. The more real this began to feel, the more nervous he got. He was going with _Isabelle_ to a _fancy event_ where he would spend the _whole evening_ with her; he was going to be lucky if he didn't faint.

* * *

"I think I've figured out Chat Noir's secret," Charles said as he sat down across from Emma at lunch.

Of course, she immediately began choking on her sandwich. "W-what?" she coughed.

"Not like his secret identity or anything," Charles laughed. He got up to pat her back in order to help her stop choking. "I mean his eyes," he said from behind her before returning to his seat after she stopped coughing.

"His eyes?"

"Yeah!" Charles said enthusiastically. "His eyes are obviously magic, right? That's why they're like a cat's."

"That makes sense…"

"Well, I think part of the magic is to make them green, too."

"Oh yeah?" Emma smiled. She like this theory, especially if it led him _away_ from Hugo.

"Think about it," Charles leaned over the table. "When have you ever seen anyone with eyes that color?"

 _I can think of two people right now,_ Emma thought.

Charles continued, "Green is also the least common eye color, so that would be a serious limiting factor right there. Green eyes and blond hair on the previous Chat Noir would be easy to spot, and so would bright green eyes with the new Chat's dark hair."

Emma nodded, thinking to herself, _please don't mention Hugo…_

"So, either it has to be magic, or it's going to be very easy to figure out the new Chat Noir's identity," Charles finished.

Emma was a bit nervous. She didn't want Charles to be actively seeking out Ladybug and Chat Noir's identities, especially when he was so close to her family to begin with. On the other hand, she didn't want him to get suspicious if she started diverting his attention away.

"What makes you think it will be so easy? Paris is still a huge place, Charlie." As soon as the words left her mouth, Emma cursed herself for not dropping the subject.

Charles looked excited at her question, which made Emma wonder just _how close_ he had gotten to figuring out their identities after just _one day_. "Well I'm not sure yet," Charles replied. "But I think Ladybug and Chat Noir go to our school."

Emma was ready to throw herself out the window. Or maybe Charles. "What makes you think that?"

"It's just a guess," Charles clarified. "They got here really quickly during yesterday's attacks, so they must have been in the area. If they're our age, then they must go here."

"What if they're older? Like in university or even lycée?"

"Then I'm wrong," Charles shrugged. "It's not like I'm doing a serious investigation. I'm just telling you my theories."

"Right," Emma sighed. "Theories."

* * *

"Hey Tikki?" she asked when they returned home from violin practice that day.

"What is it Emma?" The little kwami had moved to sitting on her desk, munching on a cookie.

"Did you hear what Charles said today? At lunch?"

"I did, yes."

"Is he really going to be able to find out our identities that easily? Even with his idea that Hugo's eyes change color it's a bit close for comfort."

"No need to worry," Tikki reassured. "He won't be able to figure it out."

"How can you be so sure?" Emma sighed, throwing herself in the desk chair. "If he's this close in just a couple of days, how much will he have figured out by the end of the week?"

"He can't figure it out, Emma. It's not possible."

"What?"

Tikki fluttered up to meet Emma's eyes. "It's all part of the magic," she explained. "No matter how close they get; the magic prevents that last dot from being connected."

"So even if he drew a Ladybug suit over a picture of me he wouldn't figure it out? Same with Hugo?"

"Exactly!" Tikki chirped. "Marinette's friend, Alya, drew the Chat Noir suit over a picture of Adrien one time, and neither of them figured it out. The magic is quite amazing."

"So no one will ever figure it out?"

"Not unless they see one of you transforming," Tikki warned. "That could be dangerous, even if it is someone you trust. If they are akumatized, Hawkmoth might be able to pull that information out of them."

"Don't get caught. Got it."

"Of course they'll know if you tell them as well, but I have to warn against that for the same reasons."

"Well I doubt that'll ever happen."

"Well if it does, just make sure you carefully consider who you are telling. If anyone has to be told, it's best to do it after they've been akumatized."

"Why?"

"A person cannot be akumatized twice, so if they find out after the fact, there's no danger of Hawkmoth pulling the information out of them. It takes a very strong will to defend the secret from Hawkmoth while akumatized."

"Has it ever happened before?"

"Not that I know of."

"Has it ever gone the other way? Where someone knew and Hawkmoth pulled it out of them?"

"I've never known that to happen, either." Tikki replied, "The butterfly Miraculous is not meant to be evil, but it is the one that is the most easily corrupted. So the only reason I may not have seen that happen is because the Miraculous has only been corrupted a handful of times."

"Well let's not test that then," Emma sighed. "Anything else I need to know about identities?"

"If someone does find out your identity, the cloaking magic will fade for that person."

"Meaning?"

"If they knew your identity, it would allow them to figure out Hugo's, Marinette's, and Adrien's." Tikki elaborated, "So it wouldn't just be your secret; it'd be everyone's."

"That's a lot of pressure."

"Don't worry, Emma." Tikki rubbed against her cheek, "Everything will be fine."

* * *

Everything was not fine.

After a brief nap after his violin lesson, Hugo was freaking out. The gala was only two days away, and he was not mentally prepared. Even with all the articles he had been reading, he wasn't sure how to act among the upper class, and he was afraid he would mess up and Isabelle would hate him.

He decided to talk to the one person who might be able to help him, but he had to be careful not to reveal that he knew more than he was supposed to know about the past.

"Hey, Dad?" he knocked on the door to his father's small office. He had taken the metro to the university just to speak with him, so he hoped he wasn't too busy. Hugo had only been in the physics building a handful of times, but the office was easy enough to find.

"Hugo?" Adrien called from his desk. "What' is it?" He figured whatever it was, it must have been pretty important if his son came all the way down to the university to ask.

"Nothing too important," Hugo sighed. He sat down in the chair on the other side of the desk, feeling a lot like a student who had a homework question. "I just had a lot on my mind. I knew you were working late tonight, but I just wanted to ask you about something. That is, if you aren't too busy…"

Adrien just smiled and pushed away the papers he was looking at. Electromagnetic dipoles could wait. "I'm not busy; what's up?"

Hugo took a deep breath and looked around the office as he tried to think of his question.

There was a bookshelf in the corner will all sorts of physics books, mostly related to dark matter, which Adrien's PhD thesis had been about.

In the other corner was a fish tank. Hugo remembered the story Adrien had told them about the colleague who was using the zebra-striped for an experiment, but once the experiment was over, didn't know what to do with them. Of course, being the kind person that he was, Adrien had adopted them.

Finally, on the desk, was a ceramic black cat and a photo of their family. Plagg had also curled up there, on a stack of papers that must've still been warm from the printer.

"Well," Hugo tore his gaze away from the décor. "It's about this Saturday."

"The gala?"

"Yes. I'm worried I'm going to mess something up somehow."

"You're just like your mother, did you know that?" Adrien smiled, his eyes flicking to the family photo. "She used to do the same thing; get all worried for nothing."

"Do you have any advice?" Hugo sighed.

Adrien shrugged, "Not about being nervous."

Hugo fiddled with the ring on his finger. "No, not about that. Did you ever have to go to anything like this? When you modeled for a big-time company or something?"

A far-away look took over Adrien's eyes, and Hugo cringed. He hoped he didn't overstep some kind of boundary by bringing it up.

"I did go to things like that at one point," Adrien replied. "What do you want to know?"

Hugo let out a breath of relief as soon as the focus came back into his father's eyes. He didn't mess up by asking that question. "Well, I'm worried that I'll mess up in front of all the posh people, embarrass Isabelle, and then she will hate me forever. How am I supposed to act?"

Adrien chuckled and leaned back in his chair. "You'll be fine, Hugo. It's not like you are a street child or anything. I'd say your mother and I did a pretty good job raising you to act properly in public, no matter who that public is."

"Are you sure?" Hugo asked. It was a reassuring thought, but not quite reassuring enough.

"Positive," Adrien nodded. "Besides, there will be so many people there, no one is going to be paying attention to what you do. I would just focus on having a good time with Isabelle."

"I guess you're right," Hugo nodded. "I have to admit I'm nervous about that, too."

"I'd be concerned if you weren't," he laughed. "Just try to enjoy yourself, and don't think about it too much. And no matter what your mother said, puns are a great way to get the conversation going."

There was a quick knock on the door, before someone had stuck their head in. "Dr. DC are you busy?" he asked, before seeing Hugo. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry I didn't mean to intrude. I'll go."

Adrien reached his arm up to stop the person from leaving. "It's okay, Luc. This is my son, Hugo." He waved Luc into the office, "Hugo this is Luc, one of my students. Now, what can I help you with?"

Luc looked embarrassed as he shuffled into the room. "I just had a question about number three on the homework, but I can come back later if you like."

"That's okay," Hugo smiled. Standing up, he pointed to the chair, signaling that he could take that seat. "I was just leaving, anyways. Nice to meet you, Luc, and I'll see you at home later, Dad."

Adrien waved, "Tell your mother that I'll be home around eight."

Hugo gave a salute in conformation as he shut the door behind him. After exiting the building, he ducked behind one of the pillars. At least being Chat Noir was good for speedy transportation—as long as Plagg didn't mind.

"Hey Plagg, any chance I can go home as Chat?"

Plagg floated out of where he had hidden inside Hugo's hoodie when Luc had entered the office. "Using your powers to go home I'm okay with—as long as there's cheese afterwards. It's when you decide to use the suit to start visiting girls when I'm going to protest."

"Why would I do that?" Hugo asked, confused.

"Just you wait, kid." Plagg sighed, "Well, are we going to transform of not?"

"Of course, Plagg. _Transforme-moi_!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They would totally call Alya and Nino their aunt and uncle even though they aren't related (and yes they are married here just go with it). Unfortunately, I don't know if either of them will make an appearance in this story, just because I've got so many characters already. Pretend they're in Guernsey on vacation.
> 
> I included the story about the fish because it was something my physics professor did, and it definitely seemed like something Adrien would do.
> 
> This may seem like filler now, but just you wait. *evil laughing* I know I time skip a lot, but I feel that is preferable to taking 1000 words to describe how bored they are in all of their classes, or what they do at practice. Speaking of time skips, the next chapter is the gala!
> 
> Last thing: Have you seen the new pictures from SDCC? My new favorite theory (which is pretty much a crack theory tbh) is that Tom is the Peacock Miraculous holder (see the evidence I have on my tumblr @cataclys-me).


	10. The Gala

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hugo and Isabelle finally make it to the gala.

Hugo woke up later than usual with a knot in his stomach and a kwami on his face. Today was the day. It was Saturday, and in less than 8 hours he would be meeting Isabelle outside of the most famous museum in Paris—maybe even the world. He could do this.

"I can't do this," he groaned. He pushed the covers off of him and rubbed his eyes in frustration.

"Kid, relax," Plagg grumbled. "It'll be fine, and you're interrupting my beauty sleep."

"Beauty sleep?"

"Yes," Plagg rolled his eyes. "Sleep and cheese are the only two things I need in my life. Maybe you should consider it."

"Why would I do that, Plagg?"

The kwami shrugged, "It's a lot simpler."

Hugo just stared at the kwami and stood up from the bed. Going over to the closet, he checked the mirror that was hanging on the door.

"Okay, so far so good," he nodded. "No sudden blemishes or anything like that. No ridiculous bedhead."

He stepped back from the mirror to open the closet door and pulled out the plastic-covered tuxedo. "This looks good, too. No stains, freshly pressed, and Mom finished the alterations yesterday."

He hung it back up in the closet to keep it safe until the evening, and flung himself back down on the bed.

"Now I just have to find some way not to think about it until tonight," he said, voice distorted by the covers.

"Why don't you read a book or something? Isn't that something you like to do?" Plagg asked from his spot on the pillow.

"I don't have any new ones," he replied. "I've read all those."

"Look one up on your phone or something then."

"It's not the same, Plagg."

Plagg sighed, "look, I'm just trying to help. If you don't want to do something you like, why don't you do your homework or something? Just stop complaining."

Hugo pushed himself off the bed again, "You're right, like usual, Plagg. I guess homework will take my mind off things for a little while."

* * *

 

In fact, homework had taken his mind off of things for most of the day. When Hugo finally looked up at the clock, it was already five o'clock in the evening.

"Plagg!" he screeched before jumping out of his chair, cursing. "Why didn't you tell me the time? I'm supposed to be there in two hours!"

Plagg, from his spot on the bed, didn't even open his eyes to respond, "How long does it take you to get ready, anyways? There's plenty of time."

"Not really," Hugo sighed. Scurrying, he grabbed some bottles and ran in the direction of the bathroom.

Even though he and Emma had always shared a bathroom, he was amazed by just exactly how much space she could take up. There were countless products strewed on the countertops, and while Hugo would normally try to neatly move them out of the way, today he unceremoniously shoved some off the counter before replacing them with his own.

Hugo tried to steady his breathing as he quickly showered, dried and fixed his hair, brushed his teeth, and he even considered using some of Emma's makeup before ultimately deciding against it. As soon as he was satisfied that he looked presentable, he quickly walked back toward his room to find the rest of his ensemble.

"Five forty-five," he said, mainly to himself. "I can totally make it."

"Didn't I already tell you that?" Plagg sighed. This time, he had finally moved from the bed to the desk, where he was eating his way through an entire wheel of brie.

Hugo ignored him and tried to get dressed quickly. Worried that he would look too much like a member of the orchestra if he wore the white shirt and bow tie combo, he improvised with a muted olive button down and black bow tie. It was an interesting combination for an event like this, but Hugo felt that it looked perfect.

He checked the time again as soon as he finished tying his shoelaces and fixing the bow tie. Six fifteen. Isabelle had texted him yesterday saying that she would be by the glass pyramid at around seven, which means he still had plenty of time to get there before she did.

"Do you think my clothes will get messed up on the metro?" Hugo asked Plagg.

"Possibly. Why don't you just ask Marinette or Adrien to drive you there? Don't they have a little car around here somewhere?"

"You make it sound like a clown car they can pull out of the closet," Hugo laughed. "I thought about asking them, but that just seems a little weird to me, having Mom drive me to a formal event."

"You could always go as Chat and just transform back when you get there."

"You'd do that for me?"

"Technically," Plagg drawled, "I have to transform you whenever you say the words no matter what I think. But yes, I am once again giving you permission to use my almighty powers of destruction as a form of cheap transportation."

"Why?" Hugo eyed Plagg suspiciously, especially after that explanation.

"There's probably going to be some fancy cheeses there, right?"

Hugo nodded.

"Well, you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. Got it?"

Hugo smiled, "Thanks Plagg. And my suit won't get messed up, right? I noticed my hair looks a little more disheveled as Chat than as me."

"Once you detransform, you'll go back to looking exactly how you do now. Cat's honor."

"Awesome," Hugo sighed in relief. "Well, I'll just go tell Mom and Dad that I'm leaving—"

"And spend the next half hour letting Marinette take pictures of you?" Plagg interrupted. "Look kid, if you want to get there on time, I suggest we go now."

He nodded in agreement. "Alright then, Plagg, _transforme-moi._ "

* * *

 

As Chat, it only took fifteen minutes to reach the museum, and after ducking behind a column to detransform, Hugo made it to the pyramid by six forty-five.

Since he was early, he tried to people-watch in order to distract himself from the nervous feeling sitting uncomfortably in his stomach. The museum had been closed for a little while now, and even though it was also starting to get dark, there were plenty of people around.

Hugo watched some people that were all dressed up heading into the museum, and figured they must be attending the same event he was.

In the opposite direction, he saw an old lady walking her dogs, well, more like being pulled around. _Are they even allowed here?_ he briefly thought, before turning his attention somewhere else. He saw a couple strolling toward the gardens, some teenagers likely heading in the same direction, and some tourists who were still out taking pictures.

It was a nice scene, and Hugo was completely zoned out until he felt a light tap on his shoulder. Snapping out of it and following the sound of a familiar giggle, he turned to see Isabelle standing behind him, smiling brightly.

It took everything he had not to collapse right there.

She looked breathtaking in her dress. It was dark red, bordering on burgundy, with one shoulder strap and a fairly form-fitting silhouette. Her hair was done up on the side that was strapless, and she was wearing more elegant makeup than he'd ever seen on her before.

He was trying not to stare at her lipstick covered mouth when she stared talking to him.

"You look…amazing, Hugo." She smiled at him again, and he wondered if she had actually sounded breathless or if it was just his optimistic imagination.

"So do you," he managed to get out. This time, he could have sworn she blushed.

"I guess we should have coordinated colors, though," Isabelle laughed. "We look like Christmas with the red and green."

"I like Christmas," Hugo stated, dumbly. Now officially mortified, he wondered how bad it would be to run away and never talk to her again.

Isabelle, however, didn't seem to mind, and instead looped her arm through his as she led him to the event. It seemed magical.

"So," she chatted as they walked. "My dad would like to meet you, first thing, but then we can pretty much do whatever we want after that. There's a bunch of food inside, and they even sectioned off a private portion of the gardens for the event. Sound good?"

"Sounds great!" Hugo agreed. "But is your dad cool? I don't really feel like receiving death glares tonight."

Isabelle laughed, "He's the Minister of the Interior, not some assassin, Hugo. You will be fine."

Hugo smiled, but mentally filed that information away for later. Isabelle's dad apparently was much more important in the government than he realized.

Sooner than Hugo expected, they were standing in front of a man at a podium. "Names, please?" he asked.

Isabelle spoke for the both of them. "Isabelle Briand, and this is my plus-one."

"Of course, _mademoiselle_ ," he smiled. "Go right through."

She nodded at the man before Hugo was pulled into an elaborately decorated room filled with mingling people. It's what Hugo imagined an 18th century aristocratic party would have looked like.

"Come on," Isabelle pulled him from his observation. "My dad is over here."

She led him through the crowd up to where a tall man was finishing a conversation with an older woman. Hugo figured this must be Isabelle's dad, even though he couldn't see any similarities between the two. He was very tall, for one, much taller than his own father, and had pale skin, bright blue eyes, and blonde hair. A complete contrast to the various shades of brown that composed Isabelle's features.

 _I guess Isabelle got most of her genes from her mother, then,_ Hugo thought.

Once the woman had left, Isabelle detached herself from Hugo and went to speak to her father. Not sure what to do, Hugo decided to just stand there, until the two walked back over a moment later.

"This is my friend I was telling you about, _papa._ " Isabelle smiled and gave him a little thumbs-up from where she was standing.

Hugo stuck his hand out, and the man accepted it.

"Julien Briand," he introduced himself.

"Hugo Dupain-Cheng, pleasure to meet you, sir."

M. Briand nodded, before releasing Hugo's hand and turning towards Isabelle. "Do you mind if I have a quick word with your friend before I let you two go?"

She glanced at Hugo apologetically before nodding and stepping away towards the catering. Hugo, on the other hand, suddenly became more nervous than he had been all week, and felt like M. Briand could hear his heartrate as the man led them to a secluded corner of the room.

"Hugo Dupain-Cheng, that was your name, correct?" he asked as soon as they stopped.

Trying to keep his voice steady, he replied, "Yes, sir."

"Any relation to Dr. Adrien Dupain-Cheng?"

"He's my father, sir." Hugo relaxed, only slightly. Maybe he had met his father before and just wanted to see if they were related? But why would he send Isabelle away for that?

"So you're Gabriel Agreste's grandson," the man stated, taking Hugo by surprise.

" _Co-comment?_ " he stuttered out in reply. He had only learned that himself a few days ago.

M. Briand didn't seem fazed, "Son, I am responsible for the interior security of the country, don't act like I don't know all about the past criminal activity of Hawkmoth, and the current resurfacing."

"Of course, sir." Hugo replied, "It's just that I only learned that information myself a few days ago, so you…took me by surprise?" He hadn't meant for it to sound like a question, but the information seemed to placate the Minister.

"So you know nothing of Hawkmoth, past or present?"

"No, sir. My parents aren't comfortable speaking about it. It's very traumatizing to my father."

"I understand," the Minister replied. "Just know that if I find out you are lying, I _will_ have you arrested and interrogated." The harsh emphasis on the last word sent a shiver down Hugo's spine; he did not like the sound of that.

"Of course, sir," he choked out. With one final nod, M. Briand walked away, leaving Hugo to recover before Isabelle returned.

"What was that all about," she whispered, handing him a drink as soon as she reached his side.

"Oh you know," Hugo chuckled nervously, "just the usual 'hurt my daughter and I'll hurt you' bit."

Isabelle rolled her eyes, "He's so dramatic. Whatever, come on, let's go sit down. You look hungry."

They sat at a table with a platter of options spread out before them, and as they ate and talked, Hugo felt himself relax. Isabelle had been right; they were mostly left alone while the adults mingled around them. It was perfect, sitting there just laughing with each other in their own little bubble.

That is until someone much closer to their age decided to intrude.

"Hey, _Belle._ Remember me?" a male voice came from behind, just moments before a hand ran down Isabelle's bare arm and shoulder.

She pushed the arm off of her and glared at the owner. He must've been about eighteen, not very tall, skinny, with dark hair and blue eyes. He reminded Hugo of a cartoon snake.

"Go away, Antoine," she practically _growled._

"Hey, sweetheart, no need to be like that." He grabbed her hand and acted like he was about to pull her from the table with him, "Come over here with me, and the party can really get started."

Hugo was disgusted by Antoine's actions. He was absolutely disgusted that anyone would ever act like that around a girl or a woman. Isabelle looked so uncomfortable that it made Hugo see red.

He stood up to face Antoine himself, and although Hugo was definitely the younger of the two, he was an intimidating size compared to this creep.

"I think she asked you to leave her alone," Hugo said with a flat tone that was only ever heard when he was truly angry.

"Oh yeah, and what are you going to do about it?" Antoine smirked.

Now, Hugo is a sensible person. He knew, even in his anger, that despite the fact that he could probably knock this guy out with one punch, it wasn't the proper thing to do at an event like this.

"Let's just say there's more than one way to skin a snake," he growled, leaning right up into the man's face. "Now unless you want to find out what I mean, I suggest you leave her alone."

Maybe it was some kind of power radiating off of him because of the fact he was Chat Noir, but that was enough of a threat to make Antoine go pale and scurry off with a huff.

As soon as he was gone, Hugo dropped the intimidating look on his face and replaced it with concern for Isabelle. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," she breathed, there was a glassy, far-off look in her eye as she stared at Hugo, but it was gone as soon as he noticed. "Um, yeah. Thanks. Do you want to go outside? To the garden?"

"Sure," Hugo shrugged. He was smiling, glad that she was okay and that he had kept his cool at the gala.

Isabelle entwined her fingers with his this time, rather than looping their arms, and led him out into the cool fresh air of the private garden.

Hugo was surprised to see it was empty, because it seemed like the perfect place to be. Other than the beautifully manicured gardens, there was also a fairly large fountain lit up in the center, and soft music coming from a place he couldn't see.

"Wow, it looks great out here," he said. Isabelle nodded in reply, and took him to sit on the edge of the fountain.

Sitting across from her like this, it was like he was noticing her for the first time that night all over again. "Did I mention you look absolutely amazing tonight?" he asked, before blushing at how forward it seemed as soon as it left his mouth.

Isabelle just smiled, "I think maybe once or twice." She paused for a brief moment, just staring at him, before she spoke again. "Thank you again, Hugo, for what you did back there. It was…remarkable."

"Is it always that bad?" he asked. When she nodded, he felt the anger bubble back up.

"It's not just him, though," she clarified. "But yes, it always happens at these kind of events. I've kind of gotten used to it."

Hugo repressed a growl at her words. "Well that's not right. No one should ever be treated like that, especially not you. You're so kind, sweet, and nice to everyone; I can't believe they would just try to take advantage of those traits like that."

"Thank you, for seeing it too."

Hugo grabbed her hands and looked her right in the eye, inching just slightly closer so her could look down at her with his full attention. He didn't even realize he had done it; he was too consumed with making sure she knew how _wrong_ it was for them to act like that to her. "I care about you Isabelle, so _so_ much. I don't even want to see you that uncomfortable ever again, even if I have to personally fight off every creep in France." He smiled at the end, so she knew that while he was serious, he knew she could handle herself without him.

Isabelle was just looking at him with an expression he couldn't quite figure out. He was sure he had seen it on her face once or twice in the past, but it wasn't one he was familiar with.

"What?" he asked, feeling self-conscious.

"I care about you a lot, too," she whispered sincerely and shot him a half smile. He blushed once his words were thrown back at him and started thinking of ways to backtrack, maybe say he just meant it in the friendliest way possible or something, when she interrupted his thoughts.

"Can I kiss you?"

Hugo felt like he suffered mental whiplash, and he stared at her lips like he needed to see the words come out again to believe she actually said that. He snapped his gaze back up to hers, still holding her hands. "Wh-what?"

She giggled, but it was nervous this time. "I _really_ care about you Hugo, and I have for a while now. Tonight just proved to me that you feel the same way. You…you do feel the same way, right?" she trailed off awkwardly at the end, breaking eye contact for a second.

Hugo just nodded, too shocked for words.

She moved in a little closer to where she was just inches from his face. "Besides, I'd be lying if I said you didn't look extremely attractive when you were standing up for me. I've never seen that side of you before, but I liked it."

He had leaned in closer while she spoke, to where he could feel her breath on his lips. He was about to close the last few centimeters between them, and he felt this night could not be more perfect.

But of course, being the epitome of bad luck, that's when the screaming started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I just decided to write this tonight, so it's unedited, Let me know if there's any mistakes. Ooh and possibly a double update tonight, so keep your eyes out :)
> 
> Also, I had to delete my tumblr because it got hacked or something, but I created a new one with the same username (@cataclys-me)


	11. The Charmer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An akuma attacks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, honestly, I only ended the last chapter where I did because I liked the cliff-hanger-Hugo-almost-kissed-her nonsense. So this is kinda just filler.

Emma decided that she didn't want to sit around the house with her parents while Hugo was out having the night of his life. She had called Charles almost as soon as she finished dinner, and the two had decided to see a movie.

It had been cheesier than the reviews had made it sound, but they left the theater laughing at the ridiculousness.

"That was…something," Charles laughed. "Remind me why you wanted to see it so badly?"

"The reviews online were pretty good, but now I think it may have just been sarcasm." She was still clutching the popcorn bucket as they took their time walking towards the park.

"Well you know what they say: don't trust things you read online."

"Whatever," Emma rolled her eyes. "What do you want to do now? I'm not ready to go home."

Charles threw his arm around her shoulder casually while he thought. "I've got it!" jogging up a bit in front of her, he said, "You know that old carousel by the park? I've always wanted to ride it."

"What?" Emma exclaimed. "You've never ridden the carousel before? You poor, deprived child! How did you survive this long!" she dramatically put her hand to the forehead and bumped into him. "Well, then let's go do that then and then do you want to go get some ice cream?"

"It's too cold for ice cream," Charles replied, before he was cut off by Emma's gasp.

"It is _never_ too cold for ice cream, _Charles Alain Lefebvre_ , and I can't believe you would even suggest such a thing!"

"Well then, _Emma Adele Dupain-Cheng_ , you can get ice cream, and I'll get hot chocolate like a civilized member of society."

They joked all the way to the carousel, and tried to find the goofiest horses to sit on once they got there. Emma took a picture of Charles laughing as soon as the ride started, and couldn't wait to show him later.

Just as it started picking up speed, their laughter was cut off by the sounds of screaming in the distance, in the direction of the Louvre.

Snapping into Ladybug mood as soon as she heard the sound, she ignored Charles and the ride operator as she jumped off the moving ride and started running.

She ducked behind a bush and yelled, "Tikki, _transforme-moi!_ "

Now dressed as Ladybug, she swung off toward the Louvre, hoping her brother wasn't in any trouble.

* * *

As soon as he heard the screaming, Hugo ushered Isabelle to the opposite side of the garden, their almost kiss completely forgotten as they scrambled for safety.

Isabelle pulled him back into a hollow-trimmed hedge.

"Stay here," he instructed. "I'm going to go make sure no one is hurt."

"Hugo, you don't have to do that! Ladybug and Chat Noir will be here any minute to deal with it!"

"Isabelle, I have to try and help."

Seeing that he wasn't going to listen to her, she sighed. "Fine. Make sure my dad is okay, got it?"

Hugo smiled, relieved at her understanding. "I will. Stay safe, I'm gonna come back here for you." With that, he quickly transformed as soon as he could and went to find their villain of the day.

It didn't even take long, and all he had to do was go back into the party. As soon as he saw the akuma, he figured he should have guessed.

It was a short man in a tight purple outfit with a scale pattern, and a faux cobra hood coming up off his shoulders.

"I am the Charmer!" He yelled, "And no one will ever call me a snake ever again!"

Chat Noir felt a bit guilty about causing an akuma, even if the guy had totally deserved it. He mainly felt guilty about all the innocent citizens caught in the crossfire.

"If you didn't want to be called a snake," Chat yelled, "maybe you shouldn't have dressed like one!"

The akuma pointed his flute in Chat's direction and started playing. He easily dodged the attack, but the woman that was behind him wasn't as lucky.

_Okay, so his power is to turn people into snakes. Got it. Where's Ladybug?_

He quickly went on the offensive, using his new skills to try and knock the instrument out of the akuma's hands. He was also trying to figure out where the akuma could be hiding, since he knew Antoine didn't have the flute in the first place.

Just then, Ladybug burst into the room.

"Nice of you to show up," he yelled. "Don't get hit by the beam!"

"Got it," she replied, and managed to wrap her yo-yo around the flute. She ripped it from the Charmer and broke it in half; no butterfly flew out, like Chat had figured.

"What's his deal?" Ladybug asked, scooting over next to Chat. "He looks like a Pokemon."

"Umm, well, you see..." he mumbled. "A certain civilian boy may have called him a snake and threatened to skin him?"

"No," Ladybug laughed. "Really? I'm so proud of him. He better tell his sister all about it later, I'm sure she'd love to hear it, too."

"I'll tell him," Chat nodded. "Now, is that a necklace I see? That's probably where the akuma is."

"Noted. You go left, I'll go right?"

With that plan, it didn't take very long for them to capture the akuma and set everything back to normal. Chat didn't even need his Cataclysm, but Ladybug had needed a Lucky Charm, a slinky of all things, to fix everything that had been messed up.

"Well, you better get back to your _prior engagements,_ huh, Chat?" Ladybug smirked.

"Yes, I'll just—"

"Ladybug, Chat Noir!" a voice called, cutting Chat off. The two spun around to see M. Briand running towards them. "Julien Briand, Minister of the Interior. I just wanted to say thank you for all that you do for the city, and your predecessors as well."

"Just doing our job, sir," Ladybug smiled.

"Right, but um…" he coughed, lowering his voice so only they could hear. "Did you see my daughter? I can't find her anywhere and I'm worried she was injured."

"Don't worry, sir." Chat comforted, "I saw her and her friend safely outside on my way here. If you'd like, I could go tell them to come back in?"

"That would be great, thanks."

Chat Noir and Ladybug quickly left the scene, Emma quickly trying to get back to where she had left Charles before her timer ran out, and Hugo retrieving Isabelle from her hiding place.

"All good," he smiled once he reached her. He held his hand out to pull her up, and she ended up pressed against him, closer than he intended.

"Hi," she breathed.

"Hi, back."

"So about that question earlier…"

Hugo cut her off by bending down to kiss her, quick and chaste, and she hugged him as soon as he broke away from her.

"I ran into Chat Noir," he said into her hair. "He said your dad wants to see you and make sure you're safe."

"Then I guess we're just going to have to pick up where we left off later," she smirked.

Hugo blushed, "How about the movies, tomorrow at 8?"

"Sound perfect."

* * *

Emma tried to act casual when she made it back to Charles. He was no longer on the carousel, instead he was sitting on a bench in front of the fountain, looking lost in thought as he stared at the water.

"Still up for ice cream?" she asked.

He snapped up and looked at her. Relief flashed across his features for a brief second, before it was quickly replaced with annoyance. "Where did you go?" he demanded.

"Hugo and Isabelle are that way," she pointed in the general direction she had run off in, "and I was just worried, so I guess I wasn't thinking."

"Oh," Charles sighed. "So did you see them?"

"No," she sighed. "I managed to run about a mile before the realization caught up with me on what I was doing."

"You and your running," he smiled. "I guess you'll really be wanting that ice cream now?"

"You know me so well," she laughed. "Come on then, dork, before they close."

"Oh, you dropped your phone by the way," he said, holding out the blue cased object to her.

"What would I do without you?" she smiled, taking the phone from him.

"You probably wouldn't have made it to fifteen."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's going to be a time skip after this chapter, about a few months ahead. Hopefully that will be clear in the next chapter, but just in case. I honestly love writing these four so much that I could probably keep this going forever, but I'm going back to university in two weeks and I'm really trying to wrap this up before then because I'm just not going to have the time.


	12. Fragilité

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just when things start becoming routine, something has to shake them up. (Charles-centric)

Emma and Hugo got more comfortable being Ladybug and Chat Noir as the months passed. Luckily, they hadn't faced anything too difficult yet, but they were beginning to feel apprehensive.

Possibly the hardest akuma they had faced so far had been the one in the Quartier Asiatique that only spoke Chinese and had a magic, 20-foot-long paper dragon, but they surprised the whole city when they showed that they weren't affected by the language barrier. Chat taunting the akuma in Chinese was on the news for a week, and it had started some rumors in the city that the heroes were actually shape-shifting deities who were capable of speaking any language.

Emma certainly hadn't minded being called a goddess.

While that akuma had been the most physically difficult to defeat, the most emotionally straining had been when Isabelle was akumatized. She was upset to find that her father wouldn't make it home for dinner _again_ , leaving her alone in the house.

Hugo had felt personally responsible for that one, because he had missed her call beforehand due to basketball practice. He felt that if he had answered, it could have prevented the whole thing from happening, and that guilt weighed him down in battle. Emma really had to step up to the plate for that attack, but luckily it didn't seem like Isabelle's heart was really in the attack, either.

Akumas caused by sadness had so far been less difficult to defeat.

Hugo reminded Isabelle a hundred times after that attack that she was always welcome at their house, and since then she had been a regular at dinner. They had been dating for over ten months now.

Emma and Isabelle had even become close friends in that time. Sometimes you just needed to have someone to girl talk with, you know?

Adrien and Marinette were so proud of how well their kids were handling the responsibility, and they were enjoying trying to navigate date night like normal people, without jumping over rooftops.

Yes, everything had settled into comfortable routine for all of them.

But of course, like everything, the peace couldn't last very long.

* * *

 

"Did you see how awesome Ladybug was in that last fight?" Charles asked, sliding next to Emma at lunch. They had recently started eating with Hugo and Isabelle, and it had taken some time for Emma to get used to sitting next to Charles rather than across from him.

"You say that after every fight," she rolled her eyes at him.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you had a crush on her, Charles." Hugo laughed.

"We can't all have such lovely girlfriends, Hugo," Charles smirked, pointing at the two across the table. "Some of us have to just dream that one day a magical spotted heroine will come sweep us off our feet."

"You are such a dork," Emma deadpanned.

Charles just shrugged and hugged her from the side. "Don't worry, Em, I'll still make time for you once I'm riding off into the sunset with Ladybug."

She punched him in the arm, laughing, until their fun was interrupted by a text from her mother.

_Akuma near Tower._

"Hey, Hugo!" She exclaimed, a bit too loud. "Mom just texted me and said we forgot to do that thing she asked this morning!"

"What?" Hugo asked.

Emma rolled her eyes—obviously he wasn't going to play along. She grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the café.

"Sorry guys, this is really important we'll see you in class!" Emma yelled as they ran out the door.

"Have you noticed that they're always doing that?" Charles asked Isabelle once they were out of sight. It had been awkward the first few times they had been left alone, it became such a normal occurrence that they'd became friends in their own right.

"Yeah," Isabelle sighed. "Hugo told me that they just forget a lot of things. Something about super busy schedules, you know?"

"Maybe," Charles said, finishing the last bite of his sandwich. "I just keep feeling like Emma's trying to distance herself from me, you know? We've been friends for so long, and now it's like every time we hang out, she thinks of a reason to run out on me."

Isabelle thought for a second, "Do you think…maybe she gets nervous?"

"Nervous? About what?"

"Well, maybe she likes you? And that's why she keeps running off."

Charles laughed, "I seriously doubt that's it, Isabelle."

"Well would it be so bad if that was the reason?"

"I don't know," he answered. "I mean; I just don't think that's it. I know Emma better than I know myself, so I think I would notice something like that."

She just shrugged, "Just consider it."

He nodded absentmindedly, "I'm just going to go…take a walk before class. Sorry to leave you alone."

"That's okay, Charles."

He smiled and waved as he left, deciding that going straight towards the school wasn't what he wanted to do. Instead, he chose to walk towards the Champ de Mars. He had plenty of time; there was at least an hour left before lunch was over.

As he got closer, he noticed the unmistakable sounds of an akuma attack in the distance. He considered turning around, but it must have been close to the end, because after a few more moments he watched the magic red ladybugs sweep throughout the city.

Charles thought about Ladybug as he kept walking, a common practice after watching the Miraculous cure the entire city. While they all liked to joke about his crush on her, he didn't really  _know_ her—of course he didn't. Honestly, he was just a fan.

Maybe that's why he didn't know what to think about the possibility of Emma having a crush on him, even though he seriously doubted that's why she'd been running off on him. At least he knew her, and she was probably the best friend he'd ever have.

Charles loved her, he really did, but it wasn't anything more than platonic on his part, and the last thing he wanted was for something as stupid as a crush to ruin their friendship.

He sighed, kicking the rock in front of him. Watching it roll into an alley, he decided to follow it on a whim.

It rolled around behind a dumpster, so he went around to find it. As soon as he crouched down to pick it up, he heard heavy footsteps land in the alley with him.

Charles held his breath. If someone had been following him, or wanted to rob him, he wanted to stay hidden. Hopefully they would just leave if they didn't hear him.

Peaking around the side of the dumpster, he was greeted by a sight he didn't expect. It wasn't a robber at all. It was _Ladybug._ He wondered what she was doing there, but he didn't even manage to finish the thought before she was enveloped in a bright pink light.

He wasn't sure what the light meant, but suddenly standing where Ladybug had been just seconds before, was _Emma._

 _Oh, no. I don't think I was supposed to see that_.

She was gone just seconds later, something flying off into her jacket before she had taken off running. She clearly hadn't noticed him.

Charles leaned back onto the dumpster, his mind spinning. Part of him was relieved, at least he knew why she had been constantly running off, but on the other hand, he was mortified as every conversation they'd had about Ladybug flashed through his mind.

 _Oh no, I called her hot!_ He panicked as he recalled the memory of Ladybug's first appearance. _And I just said I wanted Ladybug to sweep me off my feet!_

He sat there for a moment longer, trying to quench his embarrassment over everything he'd said for the past few months and just let the information sink in.

Of course Emma was Ladybug; how hadn't he seen it before? They were the same height, had the same hair color and style, and even had the same eyes. She'd started running off and being late to everything at the same time Ladybug appeared, and he'd never even realized that Emma was never around during an attack.

He wondered if Chat Noir knew, but figured he must. From the videos he had seen online, the last Ladybug and Chat Noir always went separate ways after an attack for the first few years, but not these two. On multiple occasions they'd fled the scene together.

Charles tried to guess who Chat Noir was, based on what he knew. If Emma was Ladybug, Chat must be someone she is good friends with, or at least someone she knew.

Despite being a generally sociable person, Emma never really hung out with anyone other than himself, Isabelle, and…Hugo.

Hugo's eyes _were_ naturally bright green, after all, and with the dark hair combination Charles didn't understand how he didn't notice it sooner. Apparently his theory of Chat's magic eyes had been wrong.

_Putain, Hugo is totally Chat Noir!_

Overwhelmed now that he was probably the only person in the city to know the identities of both Ladybug and Chat Noir, Charles ran back to school wondering how he was going to keep his cool around them now.

* * *

 Charles had been acting strange ever since, and Emma definitely took notice. He returned just a few seconds before class started and took his seat next to her without even glancing at her; when they had to change classrooms, he completely ignored her; she even caught him looking at her strangely in physics, like he'd never seen her before.

It was extremely odd behavior for someone who was acting fine just a few hours before, but he couldn't help it.

"Ready for practice?" she asked after their last class let out.

He jumped at the sound of her voice, and she appeared to take note of his reaction. "Practice for what?"

"You know, fencing?" she prompted. "That thing we've been doing together since we were six?"

"Oh, right. Of course, fencing." He nodded, "Today is your dad's day to teach right?"

"Yes, but no," she shrugged. "He had an emergency meeting and is teaching tomorrow instead. That's okay though, I've missed the past couple of practices because of…prior engagements, and don't feel like letting him see that."

 _She means being Ladybug_ , Charles' mind supplied. _Thanks, brain. Really helping here._

"Yeah," he managed to say instead. "It's been weird sparring with someone else."

"I'm sure," she smiled. They walked in silence after that towards the gym/courtyard where practice was held. Most of the team was already there, so they quickly split off to go get changed.

After a few minutes, they emerged from their respective locker rooms. Charles was ready to work through all the revelations he had encountered that day with the therapeutic practice of physical activity.

"You really need a haircut," Emma said when they met back up. She held out a pink band towards him, "Here, take this."

He put the headband on with a quick thanks. She was right, of course, his hair had been falling in his face for a while now, and it had been harder to see once he had his mask on. At least now it might be easier to put it on and still be able to see clearly.

"Oh look," a voice called from the other side of the courtyard, breaking them out of their exchange. "Little Miss DC decided to grace us with her presence today. What's the matter Emma, been too worried about messing up your nails to come to practice? Or did you finally realize you'll never be any good?"

Charles felt Emma tense next to him. For some reason, she ended up being the only girl on the team that year, and the rest of them had taken to teasing her about it, with the exception of Charles. It was worse when she wasn't at practice, but he never mentioned it to her because he worried about her reaction. Especially when the comments about her usually turned…crude, to put it lightly.

The main instigator was Alexandre, who had made it very clear to her that he didn't think girls belonged in what he considered a "male" sport.

"I could beat you any time, any day, Alexandre," Emma snarled.

"I'd like to see you _try_ ," he shot back. "You haven't even been coming to practice. I was hoping you'd finally quit."

Any other day, Charles probably would have let Emma handle the situation herself. But, now he knew _why_ she had been missing practice, and he was pretty sure one punch from Ladybug, costume or no, would probably do some serious damage to Alexandre's face. Charles thought he deserved it, but he'd seen what super strength could do to an opponent, and he wouldn't wish that on anyone, not even someone as disgusting as Alexandre.

"Hey," he said, stepping between them. "Lay off, Alexandre. Everyone gets busy sometimes. How many practices have _you_ missed lately? Huh?"

Alexandre just ignored him. With a taunting look at Emma he said, "What, you have Lefebvre fighting your battles now? Is he going to fence for you too?"

With that, he walked away from the two of them, back to where his mat was, with a satisfied look on his face. Emma tried to run after him, probably to pummel him, but Charles grabbed her arm before she could get too close.

"He's not worth it, Emma," he said, leading them to the mat they usually practiced on.

She spun around as soon as they stopped, and he was taken aback when he saw that her anger was now fully directed at him. "What was that?" she hissed.

"What?" She was acting like _he_ was the one that had taunted her.

"Why do you keep doing that?"

"Doing what?"

She ripped her arm out of his grasp. "You don't have to protect me! You've been treating me like I'm breakable for _months_ , and I'm sick of it!"

"I haven't been—"

"Yes you have!" she cut him off. "I can handle more than you give me credit for!"

"You think I don't _know_ that?" he snapped, quickly becoming frustrated. Frustrated with her accusing him of wrongdoings for no reason, with not being able to tell her he knows that she's Ladybug, and with himself for never telling her how they talked about her when she wasn't there. "I know better than _anyone_ what you are capable of, but did you really expect me to just stand there and let them say that? Or let you stoop to his level by fighting him?"

"I'm perfectly capable for standing up for myself," she glared, ignoring his last question. "It's not just this one time you've been suffocating me, and I'm not some porcelain doll. I don't _need you_ , Charles!"

"So that's it, huh? You don't _need me_? Because it sounds to me like you don't even _want_ me around. Well, fine, I guess I'll just go then."

He dropped his mask and foil on the mat and took off. He didn't even bother going back to get his backpack.

"Wait, Charlie! I didn't mean—" he heard Emma yell, but he ignored it as he picked up speed. She could probably catch up to him if she really wanted, but he wanted to be left alone.

It was just too much for one day. He felt like he had been unwillingly put onto an emotional rollercoaster.

Finally slowing down, he looked around to see that he was at the park. Walking over to the carousel, he sat on the same horse that he had ridden with Emma out of view of the rest of the park. It felt like years ago that they'd been there together, rather than just a few months.

For the second time that day, he thought back to all his actions. He didn't think he'd ever been overprotective of Emma, but she had called him _suffocating._ She said he'd been treating her like porcelain.

Was he really, though? He always just thought of himself as a concerned friend. Did she think he was keeping her from making other friends? Was that what the problem really was? He wasn't trying to guard her, or stifle her, or any of those other things she'd accused him of.

Charles put his head in his hands, feeling frustrated, sad, and angry all at the same time. He was so caught up in his conflicted emotions that he didn't even notice the black butterfly land on his headband.

The purple glow appeared in front of his eyes before he heard, _"Fragilité, I am Hawkmoth. Your friend has upset you, but you can get your revenge. All you have to do is tell me who Ladybug and Chat Noir really are."_

"I don't want _your_ help," he growled in reply. "And you're definitely not getting mine."

_"_ _You will help me; whether you want to or not."_

Charles knew he couldn't stop the transformation from happening, but he'd be damned if he was going to share any secrets with Hawkmoth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was fun. This idea that I have for the akuma itself is pretty lame right now, so it's gonna take me at least another day to figure that out (the akuma itself isn't the important part anyways). This is also probably going to be the last major plot-point as well, with maybe only two or three more chapter and then an epilogue set AFTER Only Time (Travel) Will Tell. 
> 
> Rating bumped because I realised swearing in French does still count as swearing, and then the bit in English there at the end. Just wanna be safe.
> 
> Thank you so much for your reviews so far! Especially those that review at the end of multiple chapters. I may not always reply, but I just want you to know I really appreciate it.


	13. Fight Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What are the consequences of fighting your best friend?

Watching Charles run out of practice had really gotten to Emma. She felt bad for what she said to him, but it was just out of frustration, really. She hadn't meant to say those things.

They'd had fights before and recovered just fine, so maybe this time would be the same?

Emma figured he'd want some space, so instead of running after him, she took out her frustrations by destroying every opponent she faced at practice. She wasn't even paying attention to what she was doing and was probably rougher than the rules would normally allow, but she felt a lot better by the end of it.

She took especially great joy out of beating Alexandre. She blamed him for starting all of this in the first place, and it took every ounce of self-control she had not to punch him before she left for the day.

Charles was right; he wasn't worth it.

She grabbed her bag out of her locker, and then went to the boy's locker room to grab Charles' as well. She ignored their yells of protest as she walked in—it's not like any of them ever changed afterwards anyways--before leaving the building to look for wherever Charles could have run off to.

The first thing she noticed once outside was silence. Looking around, the entire street was empty except for some giant porcelain statues. Odd, usually there were more cars around.

_Wait… porcelain statues?_

She hadn't been mistaken; all around were statues, expressions frozen in fear like they'd seen Medusa.

It could only mean one thing: akuma.

"Tikki," she said. "Don't tell me this is what I think it is."

The kwami stuck her head out of the gym bag she had been hiding in, "I'm afraid it might be, Emma."

She quickly texted Hugo, telling him to keep his eyes out for any activity on his way over, before she hurried off and transformed into Ladybug.

He must have been close, because Chat Noir was by her side only a few minutes later.

"What's going on?" he asked, cat ears swivelling with alertness. "This is the second attack in a row today; I didn't think that was even possible." 

"Let's just say I hope it's not what I think it is," Ladybug sighed. It seemed like too much of a stretch not to be though. An akuma that turns people in to fragile dolls less than half an hour after she had accused Charles of doing the same thing to her? That would be one heck of a coincidence.

"Do you know what happened?" Chat asked. "Because you seemed more bothered than usual."

Ladybug sighed and dropped her yo-yo limply at her side. "I got into a fight with Charles earlier," she confessed. "I accused him of treating me like I was breakable."

"Well we can talk about your social skills later," Chat tried to joke. "If you used the word _breakable_ then we need to find him before the statues end up as piles."

"You're right," she sighed as she tried to keep the tears out of her eyes. It had been a long, stressful day already, and now this? It was enough to frazzle anyone. "Is this how you felt when Isabelle was akumatized? And you didn't even cause that one…"

"I know it sucks, but we've got a job to do," he replied. "I think you said something similar to me yourself once upon a time."

"I know," she said. A flash of purple and brown caught her eye. "There!"

Akumatized Charles looked unnervingly like…himself. He wasn't wearing his fencing uniform anymore, but unlike the usual colorful spandex costume akumas usually sported, he was wearing a purple t-shirt and jeans. Something about him looked odd though, and one look at his face was enough to see what.

He looked normal from afar, not even wearing a mask, but as she got closer he looked like he was made of the same pottery as the statues.

The most unsettling part was that his eyes were completely white.

"Charles, stop!" she yelled immediately after her and Chat landed behind him.

He looked surprised to see them, and the glowing butterfly mask appeared shortly after. It seemed like Hawkmoth was telling him something, but what it was, Ladybug couldn't hear.

"I'm not telling you," the akuma suddenly said, the mask still on his face.

Chat looked at Ladybug for an explanation, but she just shrugged in response.

They turned their attention back to Charles, but it looked like he was _arguing_ with Hawkmoth rather than paying any attention to them. Ladybug considered falling back for observation.

Suddenly, his attention snapped towards them, and his arm raised to attack. The glow still hadn't left his face, and the jerkiness of his movements almost made it look like Hawkmoth was using him like a puppet. Ladybug and Chat Noir were rooted in place just by the strangeness of the whole situation.

Just as the beam was about to come barreling towards the two of them, his arm jerked to the side, the beam hitting a building and missing them by meters.

"This is getting really weird," Chat said. "I've never seen an akuma so…calm and in control like this."

"Maybe that's why I didn't hear any screaming? Even though he must have passed the school to get here?"

"Plus," Chat added, "if he was upset with Emma, why does his path look like he was going the opposite direction?"

"I don't know," Ladybug shrugged. "Maybe he's weaker because this is the second one of the day? I don't really care either way, let's just get this over with."

Hawkmoth must have regained control because as soon as the heroes went on the offensive, the akuma became more combative than they had seen so far.

He dodged all the attacks that they threw at him, almost like he knew they were coming. "Give me your Miraculous!" he yelled halfheartedly.

Ladybug was tired of the attack, because even with two on one he just kept moving out of the way! She had to admit she was a little nervous about what would happen to his porcelain body if they did land a hit, but she tried to put the thought behind her because just wanted the fight to be over.

Right as she was about to call her Lucky Charm, hoping for an advantage, the sound of coffee cups crashing to the ground distracted her. But, it wasn't coffee cups at all, it was all the statues she had seen on her way over.

They were clumsy, slow, and a few fell over and broke on their way over. Ladybug really hoped that her Miraculous Cure would be able to fix that.

Despite the fact that they didn't seem like much threat, they managed to overwhelm Chat Noir quickly. He looked like he was managing, but Ladybug felt obligated to try and help.

"Don't worry about me," Chat called, as if reading her mind. "Just deal with the akuma, I've got this!"

She nodded. Turning back towards the akuma, "Okay, Charlie, let's get this over with!"

For a brief moment, she could have sworn she saw his eyes change back to normal at the sound of the nickname. It wasn't long enough to be certain, however, and his face was quickly covered once again by the glowing purple butterfly outline.

"I'm not Charles anymore!" he called back. "I'm Fragilité!"

"That's a dumb name, Hawkmoth!" she taunted, hoping he'd somehow hear her. "Why don't you come fight me yourself! Lucky Charm!"

From the glowing magic of her yo-yo dropped a fencing foil.

"Really, universe?" she called. "This is how we're going to play this game? Fine, _en garde_ , Fragilité."

She had the advantage, as he was weaponless other than the beam. Well, until Ladybug got close enough to knock off the hand that was producing it. It was disturbing to watch in all honesty, but it gave her what she needed to figure out where the akuma was.

She couldn't believe she didn't see it sooner, but the headband she had given him was still there pushing his hair off his face. It must have been the akuma; it had been pink when she gave it to him and now it was a dark purple.

The mask still hadn't faded from his eyes, but after she had disarmed him (pun _totally_ not intended), it had started flickering. Hawkmoth was getting desperate.

"Whatever you do to me, I'm not going to tell you. You can't read my mind," he muttered, just loud enough for her to hear. It caused her to falter, and she almost dropped the foil.

Regaining her composure, she went to strike again. But before she could get close enough, he dropped to the ground clutching his head like he was in pain. The butterfly glowed brighter than she'd ever seen on an akuma before.

Not for the first time during that fight, she was frozen in shock at the sight.

He looked up at her, and this time she _knew_ she could see his eyes. The pain they held was enough to get her moving, and she lunged to snap the headband right off his head.

She cleansed the butterfly as quickly as she could, not even bothering with the catchphrases, and threw the foil in the air almost simultaneously.

"Chat are you okay?" she called to her partner, who was now free from the previous minions.

"Good as gold," he replied. "I'll take care of things here. You only have a couple spots left anyways."

"Alright," she replied. Shooting one last look at Charles, who was still on the ground but back to normal, she swung away.

* * *

Emma knew what she was doing was wrong on so many levels, and a complete misuse of Ladybug's powers. Did that stop her? No, not in the slightest.

It was only hours since she had finished fighting Fragilité, and ever since the attack she had been thinking about how odd the whole thing had been. She had talked to both Tikki and her mom to see if they had any insight into what had happened, but neither could say for sure. Tikki said it almost looked like he was resisting the influence.

Whatever it was, Emma couldn't help feeling guilty about the whole situation.

Guilty because he was akumatized because of her.

Why did she snap at him like that anyways? She was mad at Alexandre, not Charles. He was just trying to help.

She felt gilty because she had to fight him.

Guilty that he seemed like he was in so much _pain_ while fighting her. She hadn't even made sure that she hadn't permanently amputated his hand before she swung off.

Eventually, her guilt led her to transform, and now here she was, swinging through the streets of Paris for her selfish need to check up on him.

She felt bad that she was now using the disguise of Ladybug to check up on him, rather than doing it as herself, but she didn't have another option. She'd wanted to text him earlier, but she'd never gotten his backpack to him; it was sitting in her room.

Emma would have to wait until tomorrow to apologize, but Ladybug couldn't wait that long.

The guilt and stress from the day had eaten away at her all the way up until she landed on his windowsill. She was still holding on to her yo-yo with one hand, perching herself just on the ledge where she could see in.

It was close to midnight, but luckily his lights were still on, letting her see him still moving around in the room.

She took a deep breath and tapped on the windowpane. Immediately, he spotted her and ran to open it, though he was clearly surprised that she was there at all.

 _That makes two of us_ , she thought. _Ladybug doesn't make house calls._

The first thing she noticed as he pulled the window up was that he still had both of his hands. She breathed a sigh of relief; at least that one was thing she hadn't messed up that day.

"Ladybug," he greeted once the window was fully open. "What are you doing here?"

"Do you mind if I come in first?" Instead of a response, he just sidestepped out of her way. She climbed in and quickly scanned the room to make sure it didn't look any different than it had the last time she was there, two days ago as Emma.

When it all checked out, she turned her attention back to him. "I came to check on you." He was just standing there with a quizzical look and not replying, so she continued, "to make sure you were okay after being akumatized. It was a pretty serious one, and your friends were worried."

Charles smiled. "Do you normally check on akuma victims?"

Ladybug looked at her feet uncomfortably, "Well, no, but I'm thinking I might start? Your friends seemed really concerned and I thought it might reassure them…"

"My friends, huh? Which friends?"

Emma's lie was starting to catch up with her. She spluttered, "Well, I didn't actually get their names, but they seemed worried."

Charles laughed, "So you managed to get my address but not their names? I find that hard to believe."

 _Crap,_ Emma thought. _I wasn't supposed to know where he lives._ She glanced around the room again, refusing to meet his gaze, before returning to staring at her feet.

"Well it was very nice of them to have you check on me, but I promise I'm fine," he said, dropping the subject.

"So do you remember anything about the attack?"

He winced, and she mentally cursed herself for being so blunt.

"Not really," he confessed. "I remember that he wanted me to hurt my friend or something, but I didn't want to, so I tried to tell him no. After that I just remember waking up on the sidewalk with a pounding headache and a concerned Chat Noir standing over me." Now it was his turn not to meet her gaze.

"You actually tried to fight back against Hawkmoth?" she asked, not even attempting to hide the impressed tone in her voice.

"Yeah," he muttered. He looked her straight in the eye before continuing, "He wanted me to seek revenge on my best friend, but I would _never_ do that to her, no matter how upset I was."

Maybe it was the sincerity of his words and how they felt directed right at her, or maybe it was just her sleep deprived brain, but all the emotions she'd felt that day came crashing down on her, and in the next moment she had grabbed his shirt, pulled him down, and kissed him.

"I'm so sorry," she squeaked, pushing herself away seconds later. "I shouldn't have done that. I didn't mean to—"

"It's okay," he responded, cutting her off before she started rambling. She could see a blush on his face, but it looked more like embarrassment than anything else.

"Oh _merde_ , you probably hate me now."

"I could never hate someone that does so much for the city," he said. Coughing awkwardly, he continued, "Besides, you're only human, right? We all get impulsive sometimes."

"I'm so sorry," she repeated. "It's been a really long day for me, a-and I should just go. Goodnight, Charlie."

She flung herself out the window before he could respond. Once she was gone, he chuckled, "Goodnight, Emma."

* * *

She detransformed as she landed in her bedroom, catching Tikki in her palm.

"Why did I just do that Tikki?" Emma groaned, flopping herself face-first into bed. "Charles is my _friend_ , and I don't even like him like _th_ _at_! I just wanted to go over and make sure he still had all his limbs!"

"It was an emotional day," the little kwami soothed. "You probably just got caught up in it. I know you care a lot about him."

"Not in the way that warrants practically making out with him!" She groaned. "Please just kill me now. How am I going to face him at school tomorrow?"

"It was just one kiss, Emma. It's not as bad as you think it is," Tikki reassured, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. _Just like your mother_. "But it will be if you act differently at school tomorrow."

"I know. I just want to go back to being friends, but what if I've completely ruined it today?"

"He doesn't know that it's you behind the Ladybug mask," Tikki reminded. "So just get some sleep. I'm sure it'll be fine in the morning."

"Okay," she sighed. "Goodnight, Tikki."

"Goodnight, Emma."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate writing akuma attacks. I changed this so many times, and hopefully there's no mistakes.
> 
> Originally, I was going to have this be just 15 chapters, but squeezing the next day/apology in with all this mess without a chapter break didn't look right. So 16 (including the epilogue) it is.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed my Ladrien parallel (but that's where the similarity with that stops).


	14. I'm Sorry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma and Charles talk about what happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is fairly short, just because it didn't really fit within the last chapter.

The next morning, Emma sat on the steps outside the school waiting. She had both her stuff and Charles’ backpack leaning against the side, but in her worry had gotten to school almost twenty minutes before the first people would start arriving. The building wasn’t even open yet.

She hadn’t slept well after the events of the previous day, not that she expected to, so she laid down on the stairs and contemplated what might happen if she tried to take a nap out in the open like that. 

Just as she was about to close her eyes and accept the risk, she heard her name being called.

“Emma!” he called again, and she opened her eyes to see Charles walking across the street towards her.

_Be cool, Emma._

As soon as she saw him, she grabbed both her bags and ran down the stairs to meet him halfway. She barely let him step on the sidewalk before she flung herself at him and enveloped him in a giant bear hug.

He hadn’t immediately hugged her back, and she began to worry that he really was still mad. 

“I _so_ sorry, Charlie,” she cried into his shirt. “I didn’t mean any of those things I said. I was just tired, and I was angry at Alexandre, and you were just trying to protect me, but then I had to go and be _stupid_ and yell at you for no reason and then you got _akumatized._ I was so scared for you, Charles. I saw the attack and it looked like he was _hurting_ you and it was all my fault. I’m a terrible friend. I’m so sorry, so so—“ He cut off her rambling by hugging her back and laying his head on top of hers.

“It’s okay, Em. Really.”

“You don’t have to forgive me if you don’t want to,” she mumbled. “I would understand.”

“Don’t be stupid,” he chuckled, his laughter shaking her. “Who would I have to talk to then? Where would I eat lunch? I can’t just make a new best friend.”

She looked up at him, “So you forgive me then?”

“I want to talk to you first, because even in anger there’s always some truth,” he sighed. She deflated in response; she should have realised that he wasn’t going to just drop it. How would she even explain it without telling him the whole story? How would she explain why she’s been so tired lately? Why it seems like she’s always running into danger rather than away from it?

He interrupted her increasingly panicked internal monologue by saying, “But yes, I forgive you.”

She finally released him, wiping the tears from her eyes with a sigh of relief. “I brought your backpack for you. I was going to bring it yesterday, but…well…”

“Thanks,” he smiled. “That’s actually why I’m here so early; I was planning on getting it from my locker.” He dug in his pockets for a second before holding something out for her. “I brought your headband back. It’s 100% miraculously cured and akuma free.”

She took it from his hand, but the thought of seeing it ever again made her skin crawl. “How about after school we light it on fire,” she suggested.

Charles laughed, “If that’ll make you feel better, then I would be glad to help.”

“Good. We need to perform an elaborate ritual to truly rid ourselves of the argument, you know.”

“Well,” Charles said. “Since we’re both here early, do you want to talk now? I think the building is open now, so we could go find a quiet corner of the library until class starts.”

“I guess that’s for the best,” she sighed.

He smiled, and hiked up his backpack. “Well then, after you.” 

* * *

 

They ended up sitting in farthest corner of the library, at one of the small tables set up for studying.

“So,” Charles started awkwardly. “Suffocating?”

Emma dropped her head onto the table, “That may have been a stronger word than what was intended." 

“Emma, I can’t hear you when you muffle your voice like that." 

“Sorry,” she replied, sitting up. “I said maybe suffocating was a stronger word than what was intended.”

“So what did you mean then? Because honestly, I was worried that you thought I was keeping you from making new friends. You’re so sociable, and I’m just _not_.”

“No no no, that wasn’t it at all,” she protested. “Honestly I don’t need any other friends. I’ve got you, and my brother, and now Isabelle; that’s plenty!”

“Well then what?” he asked.

Emma sighed, trying to think of how to phrase it without giving away her secret. “Well, you know how there’s been more and more akumas lately?”

“Yeah?”

“When we’re together, it’s like you have this subconscious need to _protect_ me or something. You've been doing things like grabbing my arm, putting your arm around my shoulders—you know, little things like that. I say subconscious because I don’t even think you know you’re doing it. I guess I just got frustrated because I don’t need protecting, and after everything yesterday I kind of just…snapped.”

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t realise.”

“Don’t you dare apologise when I’m the one at fault here. I should have told you right from the start instead of keeping it bottled up inside." 

“I know you can take care of yourself, Emma,” he replied with the same intense gaze that he held night right before Ladybug—no, Emma couldn’t think about that now.

“I-I wanted to say thank you, by the way,” she replied, trying to push the thought away. When he tilted his head in confusion, she continued, “for stopping me from stooping to Alexandre’s level. I probably would have pummelled him into the ground if it wasn’t for you.”

Charles laughed, before quieting himself after a stern look from the librarian. “Well then, you’re welcome. Hey, at least now I can’t be akumatized again; all the risk is gone.”

“Do you remember anything about it?” she asked, technically for the second time. Much like he had the night before, Charles winced. 

“You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to!” she cut in before he could begin. “I’d understand.”

“No, it’s okay.” Taking a deep breath, he replied, “I actually started thinking about it more after…someone else asked last night.” 

_He’s talking about Ladybug,_ she immediately recognised. “And?”

“Well,” he started, scratching the back of his head. “I remember I was an emotional mess, and then I felt something land on me.”

Emma nodded; that must have been the akuma. 

“Then there was a voice, Hawkmoth, telling me that if I helped him, he would give me powers t-to seek revenge on you." 

Now it was Emma’s turn to wince. “What did he want?”

“He wanted Ladybug and Chat Noir’s Miraculous, whatever that is, but I think there was something else...”

She subconsciously rubbed her earring in response to his words. “Do you remember what it was?”

“No,” he lied. Emma didn’t notice. 

“Oh,” she replied. “So you don’t remember anything else?”

“I remember trying to push him out,” he confessed. “I don’t care how upset I was, I didn’t and would never want to hurt you, so I tried to fight it.”

“But he still took control,” she sighed. 

“Yeah,” he said dejectedly. “I think once the butterfly thing lands, Ladybug has to deal with it or it doesn’t go away. But anyways, I guess I fought him the whole time, because I had little flashes of memory in my dreams last night.”

“ _Quoi?”_ she interjected, being immediately shushed by the librarian. “You remember what happened?”

“No, not all of it,” he explained. “Just flashes. I remember being surprised to see Ladybug and Chat Noir, and then I remember Ladybug looking at me like she was watching a murder. _That_ was a haunting image.”

Emma nodded. So she _hadn’t_ been mistaken when she thought she saw his eyes return to normal. “I am so sorry for putting you through that, Charlie.”

“ _You_ didn’t do it,” he protested. “Not really, that is. It’s all Hawkmoth.”

“Twisted bastard,” she grumbled under her breath.

Charles just smiled, “But I’m glad you explained your feelings to me. I’ll try not to be so overprotective in the future.”

They stood back up and she hugged him again, “You're my best friend, Charles. I love you, but I can handle myself.”

“I know,” he laughed. Joking into her hair, he said, “Maybe  _you're_ the one who should be protecting me.”

_Oh, Charlie; if you only knew._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I literally wrote this in 20 minutes after realising I forgot to write today. Because I sort of rushed, after I uploaded this here, I noticed that I forgot to set my keyboard to American English, so please excuse this jumble of mismatched British and American. Some words I'm better at remembering to change than others.
> 
> Next chapter is Le Sablier, and then there's an epilogue where we see what happened with Emma and Charles after OTTWT.


	15. Le Sablier

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We reach the beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is very short. And unedited. I'm exhausted.

The ceremony to “cleanse their friendship” by burning the headband had worked perfectly. Within the weeks following the battle with Fragilité, Emma and Charles had been closer than ever.

It was almost like nothing had happened, but of course, it had.

Everyone in their small group of friends was struggling with their own problems, and they were hoping it wouldn’t catch up with them.

Emma still felt guilty for causing Charles to be akumatized, and she felt like her excuses for disappearing on him were getting thinner and thinner by the day.

Charles felt bad for not telling Emma he knew she was Ladybug. In an attempt to try and better understand what she was going through, he poured through the videos posted on the Ladyblog archives, back from the last Ladybug. He felt like it helped…until he went over for dinner one night and realised her _parents_ had been Ladybug and Chat Noir. He didn’t even remember what excuse he gave when he ran out of their house to go scream into his pillow.

Hugo had been a little better off, but like Emma, he was worried that the excuses he was giving Isabelle were getting pretty flimsy.

Isabelle had started to notice his absences more frequently than she had in the past, but just hoped that it didn’t mean they were drifting apart.

* * *

 “A relay race? Really?” Emma grumbled as they all stood around before gym class. While the rest of the class finished getting changed, the instructor had told them that they’d be doing a relay race that afternoon and they’d be leaving to go to the track as soon as everyone was ready.

“Why are you complaining?” Charles asked. “We all know that you’re the fastest one in class.”

“Yeah,” Emma agreed unabashed. “But what if I get stuck with a slowpoke like you?” She elbowed him in the side, and he just stuck his tongue out in reply.

“Actually,” Hugo cut in. “It’s by last name, and since Jade isn’t here, it looks like we’re partners, Em.”

“I guess you’re a sufficient partner,” Emma joked. “I’m not afraid to give _you_ a hard time if we lose.”

“Gee thanks,” he rolled his eyes.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Charles said, mentally running through the class roster. “Last names means I’m partnered with Anaïs Kurtzberg _._ ”

“Yes, and?”

“She’s too…too distracted,” Charles attempted to explain. “Especially when I try and talk to her. What if she forgets to run?”

“I think Anaïs has a crush on Charles,” Emma stage-whispered to Hugo. “But seriously, Charles, I doubt she’ll forget to run in a race. Be nice.”

“Well I think you’re all luckier than me,” Isabelle sighed, walking up to Hugo’s side. “I’ve got _Alexandre Bourgeois._ He’ll probably find a way to convince the teacher he can win the race by himself.”

“Want me to take him out for you?” Emma asked, punching her fist into her hand. “It’d be doing both of us a favor.”

Isabelle laughed, “Tempting, but I think I’ll have to turn that offer down.”

“Well, since we all have such _terrible_ partners,” Hugo said, looking right at Emma, who huffed. “Why don’t we all go to that café we like later?”

“The one with the crêpes from heaven? I’m down!” Charles exclaimed. Isabelle and Emma nodded in agreement as well.

“Okay, class!” The instructor called. “Let’s go; follow me, please.” She led them down the front steps of the school and towards the track at the nearest lycée, since they didn’t have one of their own.The walk also served as their warm up, which meant that they would be ready to go as soon as they got there.

“Hey, what’s that?” someone called from the front after a few minutes of walking. In the middle of the road, was a cloaked figure standing still. At first Emma thought it was a cosplayer, but Hugo caught on quicker.

“Uh, I forgot my gym bag at school! I’ll be right back! Emma, come help me find it!” he yelled to Isabelle and Charles. Dragging Emma with him behind a bush once they were out of sight, he asked, “that’s totally an akuma, right?”

“Oh, I didn’t even think of that, but I guess we better go check it out, huh?”

After twin calls of “ _transforme-moi_ ,” Ladybug and Chat Noir were on the scene investigating. Much the annoyance of Ladybug, their class was still there, too afraid to cross the stranger’s path.

“Stay out of the way,” Ladybug advised. “Let us handle this.”

No one moved except Charles, who managed to give Ladybug a thumbs-up. The duo approached the akuma slowly, worried that he would suddenly move to attack. After all, they had no idea what his powers were.

“Give me your Miraculous,” he bellowed. Well, he tried—he couldn’t have been any more than nine years old, and his voice reflected that. “If you don’t, you’ll regret it.”

“That’s what they all say,” Chat retorted, rolling his eyes. “Tell me something new.”

“I’m serious!” the akuma yelled, voice rising like an indignant child. “I’m Le Sablier, and if you don’t give me your Miraculous then you have to deal with me!”

“Le Sablier, huh?” Emma taunted. “What are going to do, throw sand at us?”

“I’ll show you!” he responded. Suddenly, he lifted up his arm and blasted a beam towards them. Ladybug barely managed to dodge at the last second.

“Let’s not find out what those do, okay, Chat Noir?”

“You got it, LB.”

They went to strike, but apparently their usual strategy of taunting only made the akuma more difficult to manage. Ladybug was worried that with their classmates so close to being caught in the crossfire that things would turn from bad to worse if they didn’t end things soon.

Trusting Chat to distract the akuma, she moved to call her Lucky Charm.

That’s when things went bad, fast.

Chat had managed to dodge three beams in a row, but Le Sablier managed to catch him on the fourth one.

Right after hitting Chat, the akuma jumped into a portal himself.

“Chat!” Ladybug yelled, panicking. She quickly threw her yo-yo around him to try and stop him from being pulled in to whatever the akuma’s power was, but obviously it hadn’t worked as she wanted. Everything was black for a brief moment, and like she had blinked, they landed in an alley nowhere near where they had been before.

“Ugh,” Chat groaned. “Where are we?”

“I don’t know,” Ladybug responded, pulling him up off the ground. “Did we get sent across town or something?”

“Maybe,” Chat replied, pulling off the newspaper that stuck to his forearm. He glanced at it briefly before his eyes widened in shock. “Umm… Ladybug? I think it may be a little more drastic than that.”

“I know right?” she said, missing his gesture to the paper and knocking it out of his hand. “Who even reads newspapers anymore?”

“Apparently a lot of people did twenty-five years ago, because that’s where we are.”

“What?” she asked. Then out of the corner of her eye, she saw a shape moving. Someone peeked around the corner and made direct eye contact with her, eyes widening in shock when they did. Ladybug was also surprised. She recognised those eyes, no matter how much younger they appeared.

 _Twenty-five years ago,_  Chat's words echoed in her mind. _Oh, no._

“Please don’t freak out!” she yelled, gathering her wits. “You’re Marinette Dupain-Cheng, right?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was short (and lame; it's okay you can say it). I didn't feel like coming up with more last names so now we have some future kids related to our current classmates, and the first names were ones I had leftover from other writings.
> 
> The epilogue should be much longer (and better), as I have many things planned for it, but it's probably going to take a couple of days to write and get up. Maybe I'll even edit that one (and finally remember to change my keyboard to American English). I'm hoping to have this whole thing done by Tuesday night.
> 
> Also, I couldn't sleep last night, and I wrote an angsty one-shot/songfic that I might also post tonight. It's Adrien centric. Feel free to read that too ;)


	16. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You knew?

The first day back at school after the events of _Le Sablier_ was…odd. It didn’t seem like Hugo minded; he was too wrapped up in Isabelle and their now secret-free relationship. Emma, on the other hand, half expected to walk in and see her parents sitting there in an outdated classroom.

 But, they were at their jobs and Emma was with her usual classmates. She realised that the lessons were just as boring in the present as they had been over two decades ago.

  _Well, I guess some things are consistent._

 Emma hadn’t seen Charles all morning because he had a dentist appointment, but she was looking forward to slipping back into their normal routine of eating together as soon as the lunch break started.

 She met him at a café near the school. He was sitting outside at their usual table, and had even ordered for her already.

 “Thanks, Charles,” she greeted, sliding into the seat across from him. “I missed this while I was…sick.”

 Charles just smiled in reply and took a sip of his drink.

 “So,” he started, putting his glass down. “Where did the beam send you?”

 Emma spluttered and almost spit out her food. “Wh-what?”

 “Come on, Em,” Charles chuckled, rolling his eyes at her antics. “You were nowhere to be found all week because you were sick and lost your phone charger?”

 “That’s what I said, yeah,” she retorted. “Do you not believe me?” She hadn’t meant to let uncertainty slip into her voice, but it was noticeable.

 “While it does sound like something _you_ would definitely do; it doesn’t explain why I had to console a panicking Isabelle all week. We all saw the akuma before you vanished.”

 “Oh,” Emma sighed, relieved. Charles must have just assumed that they’d been hit by the akuma on their way towards the school. “Umm, yeah. We totally got hit by the beam when we were going b-back to the school…” she trailed off, forgetting what their excuse had been.”

“To get Hugo’s bag?” Charles supplied, shooting her a knowing glance before taking a bite of his sandwich.

 “Right. We went back to get Hugo’s bag.”

“Were you planning on getting his bag before or after you fought the akuma?”

Emma’s jaw dropped, along with the sandwich she had been holding. Quickly realizing they were out in the open, she pushed herself away from the table and dragged Charles with her by his shirt collar. She pushed him into a secluded space between the two buildings before asking, “ _What did you just say?”_

Charles gave his easy smile. “You know, if this is how you react when someone says anything that could be incriminating, you aren’t going to keep your secret very long.”

 “Wh-What are you _talking about?_ I don’t have any secrets! I’m an open book! No secrets here!”

 “Emma,” Charles deadpanned. She deflated immediately and hung her head.

 “How-how did you—?”

 “How did I know you were Ladybug?” he supplied. Her shock was brought back by him admitting it out loud. “Easy, I saw you transform.”

 “But I’m so careful!” she protested. “How did you see? _When_ did you see? You can’t tell anyone!”

 “Woah, Emma. Calm down,” he said, placing his hands on her shoulders. “Do you really think I’d tell anyone? I hadn’t even told you!”

 “So why tell me now?”

 “Well, I saw that Hugo and Isabelle looked…different, so I just assumed he told her—”

 “You know about him, too?” she interrupted.

 “—and I figured if she knows, you’d be less likely to kill me for knowing,” he finished, ignoring her question.

 Emma sighed and laid her head on his chest in defeat, arms falling limply to her sides. “So, you found out,” she mumbled. “Recently, I assume? You’re just as bad at keeping secrets as I am.”

 “Actually…” He muttered awkwardly, “I’ve known for quite a while.”

 “How long is that, exactly?” she asked, still not moving.

“Since the day I got akumatized,” he replied, not missing how she tensed. “I was picking up a rock behind the dumpster in the alley you transformed in.”

Emma pushed herself away from him like he had burned her. “That long?” she cried out. “But that means you knew who I was while you were an akuma! What if Hawkmoth knows now, too!”

 “I’m offended you have such little faith in me, but I’m going to let it slide for now.”

 “What do you mean?”

 “I didn’t tell him, Emma.” Charles said, “But he did seem to know that I knew.”

 “H-he didn’t pull it out of you?”

 “No, but I think he tried. I certainly had a massive headache when I came back to it, though.”

 “Oh my god,” Emma marveled, moving back towards to hug him. “That’s why it seemed like you were fighting back and saying all that weird stuff! You idiot, you could have put yourself in serious danger! Especially now that he knows you know!”

 “Well if I’m in such grave danger,” Charles replied, hugging her back, “then I’m glad I have you to protect me.”

 “You are _such_ a dork, Charles,” she laughed. They stood there like that for a few minutes before Emma realized something.

 “Oh no,” she groaned, pushing him away from her from the second time. “That means that you knew it was me when I-I…”

 “Kissed me?” he grinned. “Yeah, I knew. That was certainly a surprise.”

 Part of her wanted to ask if it was a good surprise, but the more rational part of her brain responded. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry I shouldn’t have done that; I was just so emotional—”

“It’s okay,” Charles cut off her rambling. She took the fact that he was still smiling as a good sign. “I get it. We both had a rough day that day, and it didn’t change our friendship.”

“R-right,” Emma sighed. “I’m still sorry, though.”

 Charles just winked and said, “Well, maybe next time it can mean something. Now, shall we get back to class? You can tell me where the beam sent you later.”

* * *

 

 "I thought you said no one could resist Hawkmoth’s mental probing once they were akumatized,” Emma said to Tikki later that evening.

 “I didn’t say that; I just said it had never been done before,” Tikki corrected. “Charles must be something amazing to resist him like that.”

 “Yeah,” Emma sighed. “He _is_ pretty miraculous.”

* * *

 

That night, there was a small, hexagonal black box sitting on Charles’ nightstand.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was shorter than I intended, but I just didn't have the time to write much else. Either way, I hope you enjoyed this story!

**Author's Note:**

> This is a prequel to my other story, Only Time (Travel) Will Tell. You don’t have to read that first, but it might help fill in some of the information. This is an AU where the Ladybug and Chat Noir Miraculous are passed down within family, so it will have elements of that as well as elements of the mythology from the show.
> 
> I'll try to update at least once a week (I literally post whenever I finish writing), and constructive criticism is always welcome. Feel free to talk to me on my ml tumblr sideblog too @cataclys-me :)


End file.
